[Towertalk] Lightning Protection - Conclusion (for me, anyway)

[K7LXC@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/14/02 5:02:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
SPELUNK.SUENO@prodigy.net writes:

> My original query (Must I ground the coax shield ahead of the
>  Polyphaser suppressor?) is one of those angels-dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin
>  kind of thing.  

    Not really. The answer is "yes". Commercial installations do just that - 
I'm sure that that's in the Polyphaser book and other grounding references. A 
ground kit is installed on the shield and connected to the building entry 
ground bus before the transient protector. 

>  It'll never be answered objectively (quantitatively.)  So
>  I'm going to have to be satisfied in knowing that I have grounded the coax
>  shields at the top and bottom of the tower and I have installed suppressors
>  on all coax (as well as control cables) coming from said tower.  If a 
strike
>  takes out one or more PL259's I'll just marvel at nature's fury and replace
>  the coax/connectors (and whatever else.)
>  
    You still need the shield to be grounded at the building entry as per 
above.

Cheers,
Steve    K7LXC
TOWER TECH -
Professional tower services for commercial and amateur