[TowerTalk] Lightning ceasing over big antenna farms?

[VE6JY Don Moman]

Well, it seems to happen here.  I have over a dozen towers, mostly in the
150 foot range, spread over 80 acres.  The location is on a fairly high
piece of ground (ridge) with quite a drop off to the east. I can see the
storms coming and leaving for quite a distance.   We do get a significant
amount of lightning activity in this area and it seems to be increasing, but
have never taken a direct hit - that I know of or that did any damage.
Obviously we get nearby strikes that can cause damage from the pulse but
even that is minimal - I just lost a VHF RX preamp 3 nights ago, which is
the only thing I can recall that has been damaged in the 10 years at this
QTH (other than beverage terminating resistors).  Now that I think of it, it
was connected to the only antenna that doesn't go thru the single point
bulkhead...... hmmm, time to change that.

MY previous QTH, not too far away but with only 1 tallish tower - 130 feet
was hit several times over a similar time frame.

I'm as convinced that it happens as some of you are that it doesn't. I
certainly can't prove it.    I don't  depend on not getting hit for
protection, so have a reasonably decent ground system but it certainly has
holes in the coverage as new things get added and "temporarily" hooked up
for a few years....  While there are no spider balls on my towers, there are
lots of pointy things like yagi elements.

I was in the forum at Dayton in 1994 when John W0UN described his similar
Kansas experience.  At the time I hadn't even purchased this property and
had little reason to remember that section of his presentation, but for some
reason it stuck in my mind.  We've since discussed this several times at
Dayton.  Perhaps there are other forces and circumstances that enter the
picture.   Kansas and Alberta are both on the eastern side of a significant
mountain range, and basically on the start of the plains to the east.

73 Don
VE6JY

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Katz" <stevek at jmr.com>
To: <kk9a at arrl.net>; <TOWERTALK at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 4:38 PM
Subject: RE: [BULK] - Re: [TowerTalk] spider balls


> Lightning ceases over big antenna farms?  I sure haven't seen that
happen...
>
> Biggest lightning damage I've ever seen occurred at WC2K in southern NJ
> about 19 or so years ago.  Rick had big towers, including a self-supporter
> about 120 feet high...very, very, very, very well grounded.  Lightning
took
> out most of his station, and he told me he literally sat there and watched
> it happen.  Not much you can do about it when your rigs are exploding in
> sequence on benches all around you.  I didn't see it happen, but I saw the
> aftermath, and it wasn't pretty.  Thankfully, the house was saved.
> -WB2WIK/6
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kk9a at arrl.net [mailto:kk9a at arrl.net]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 9:55 AM
> To: TOWERTALK at contesting.com
> Subject: [BULK] - Re: [TowerTalk] spider balls
>
>
> I really question this.  Why would lightning not strike a well grounded
> tower.   Once, I watched a storm approach my station.  As it passed over I
> saw lightning strike my tallest tower which has 15 ground rods and no
spider
> balls.
>
> 73,
> John
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jerry Keller" <k3bz at arrl.net>
> To: <Lew at dsl-only.net>
> Cc: "'Towertalk Reflector'" <towertalk at contesting.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2004 14:07
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] spider balls
>
> <snip>  But that's what I've been told is the way lightning rods work, and
> it sure seems to be consistent with what I've seen myself and what many
> others have described. How else would one attempt to explain the strikes
> from t-storms somehow ceasing while passing over a big antenna farm, then
> resuming after passing it, as has been reliably reported here and
elsewhere?
>
>