[TowerTalk] Lightning... and pointed rods!

[Ken Hirschberg]

Thanks, Bob, for the breath of fresh air.  Still lots of mythology out
there!
Ken, K6HPX

Bob Wanderer wrote:

> Sorry, Norm, but the spline balls working that way (as they
> were originally touted) is just not true (please substitute
> a much stronger but politically incorrect term).  When I was
> at PolyPhaser, we used to provide a video from two TV
> stations and the FAA in Tampa proving the incorrectness of
> these beliefs.  The one from the FAA (just before the camera
> stopped running) clearly shows one of these "hedgehogs"
> being hit.  The FAA was interested in them (for obvious
> reasons) until the truth became obvious.  Then they were
> touted in another manner.
>
> The reason everybody thought that they worked as claimed is
> because usually the site had a poor grounding system (the
> grounding system is the "make or break" of any good
> protection system).  When the hedgehogs were installed, the
> grounding system was improved at that time.  Now lightning
> damage became minimal or non-existant.  Ergo, it must be the
> hedgehog.
>
> 73
> Bob AA0CY/3
> PolyPhaser Technical Consultant, 1994-1997
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-towertalk@contesting.com
> [mailto:owner-towertalk@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Norman
> Hockler
> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 12:01 AM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Lightning... and pointed rods!
>
> It helps to have many pointed rods on the top of the tower.
> Commercial
> towers use "spline balls" on the tower.  They are melon
> shaped metal ball
> with hundreds of sharp points.  These points help to
> dissipate the charge
> build up and therefore prevent the ground leader from going
> up to meet the
> cloud charge.   This is why a uhf/vhf antenna stack is less
> likely to be
> hit than a single vertical or a HF tribander.
>
> de Norm  N8NH
>
> At 09:52 PM 10/24/00 -0400, you wrote:
> >As long as we're on this subject, I notice all the
> lightning rods on
> >buildings have sharp points upwards...so... does it help to
> have a pointed
> >rod at the top of the tower mast? If so, why?
> >Jerry K3MGT
> >
> >
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