[Towertalk] More on Lightning protection

[K3BU@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/14/02 10:23:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
drboz@pacbell.net writes:

> 
>  I'm told that one way to help ensure that something high, like a tower,
>  doesn't present a convenient place for lightning to establish its path is 
to
>  "dissipate" the charge on the tower.  Hence those bushy looking 
dissipaters.
>  Attached at the top of the tower (not the mast!) these dissipaters are
>  supposed to bleed off charges that a tower can have, making it a less 
likely
>  target for lightning.  They also provide an "umbrella" of sorts for things
>  within some radius from the tower.  Seems logical.  Anyone with any
>  experience??
>  
>  Don
>  W6DRB

Anecdotal, but it striked me.
I was hit few times by lightning when I had "inferior" (tribanders, small) 
antennas on the tower. When I had 3 el. 40m Telrex, lightning seemed to avoid 
me, I was never hit. Lightning likes sharp spikes, while it might find large 
"umbrellas" repulsive?

Yuri, K3BU