[TowerTalk] newbie, Installing a 80' crank up

[K7LXC@aol.com]

In a message dated 99-10-11 09:58:19 EDT, brian_smithson@vds.com writes:

> > Regarding tower placement, the rule of thumb is a minimum of 50 feet
>  > away from the nearest person or structure.  A tower will tend to
>  > attract lightning, so you don't want to attract it right near your home
>  
>  I've marked out a spot for the base of my 2nd Trylon
>  self-supporting to be close to a barn in our backyard.
>  The barn is >300' from the house, but the tower will
>  (was going to) be less than 10' from the barn. I'm
>  planning a pretty extensive ground system - am i still
>  asking for trouble?

       Good  question - I haven't seen that 'rule of thumb' before. Since a 
tall object (tower, tree, bigger structure of some sort, etc.) offers a 'cone 
of protection' and mostly protects objects under it in the COP, I would say 
that (with a proper ground system) close proximity is not a negative. Almost 
ALL commercial equipment buildings are VERY CLOSE to their towers and many 
routinely get lightning strikes with no damage to tower, building or 
equipment. 

       The ROT isn't a bad idea but usually not very practical. If the tower 
is that far away, then it's pretty much decoupled from other nearby 
structures. 

Cheers,   Steve   K7LXC
Tower Tech
      

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