[TowerTalk] Ground Radials Insulated or Not

[Tom Rauch]

> >Not that it means anything, but I've never seen a BC
station
> >radial wire melted or any of my own, despite years and
years
> >of strikes. I only use #16 radial wire, and often only
50-60
> >radials. This includes my 318 ft tower.
>
> Do you also have a ground rod(s) or Ufer ground at the
tower base?

I put poison peanuts down and killed all the Ufers that were
tearing up my lawn. Least that's what my wife calls those
pesky pine voles when they get into her flower bulbs and
rose bush roots. I hear her 500 ft away saying that name.

I have a few short copper pipe rods at the corners of the
ground buss (3 or 4 inch copper flashing). I doubt the rods
do much with all that buried #16 copper.

Or, are
> you depending on just the radial field for lightning
protection?

Mostly so. Just like we did for years and years at AM BC
stations.

> Could this be due to the rise in voltage at one end of the
shield relative
> to the other?  Was it an overcurrent failure or an
overvoltage failure
> (i.e. melted metal or blasted through insulation?)

The aluminum foil inside the coax and the braided aluminum
often just "vanish" after a big hit, even if it is not on a
tower in my installation.

I think there are BIG potential differences between large
ground systems that are spaced far apart. Remember my
antennas are spread over a 1/2 mile square area.

73 Tom