Topband: Fw: 25G insulators

[Pete Smith]

At 08:20 PM 8/29/03 -0700, Earl W Cunningham wrote:
>3) Because the tower is grounded, a lightning strike is conducted
>directly to ground, thus eliminating damage to anything (my tower in
>Houston was hit many times with absolutely no ill effects.  One of my
>towers here in the desert was hit about 20 years ago with no damage
>whatsoever).

I read Tom and Earl's messages with interest and a degree of 
confusion.  Last week, I took a hit on my grounded, shunt-fed Rohn 25 
tower, which supports all my other antennas as well.  Two rotators, a 
Stackmatch relay box and a remote antenna switch box all appear to have 
been fried by the hit.  Some of this is inference from ohmmeter readings, 
because I have not yet been up to take the various items down, inspect the 
cabling, and so on, but motor windings and relay coils appear to be open, 
and rotator position pots the same.  Isn't it reasonable to assume that any 
time a tower, whether grounded or not, takes a direct strike, it is likely 
that destructive voltages will be induced in any conductors on the tower?


73, Pete N4ZR
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