[TowerTalk] Re: Static, Lightning, and protection

[Phil - KB9CRY]

Well, here's my two cents, again.  I'm no expert but an avid learner and 
researcher.

Here's an article by Polyphaser titled, "What is Lightning?"  
http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_PEN1020.asp
(And that's spelled lightning, not lightening.  Geesh!)

And here's another article about Lightning Protection Facts and 
Fallacies.  http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_PEN1021.asp
(I never thought of putting a cat up on the top of the tower to scare 
away lightning; another good use for cats, from a dog lover!)

I think some of you are missing the point.  It's fine if you can prevent 
a lightning strike from hitting your tower but you still have another, 
bigger problem.  What about induced energy from nearby strikes?  You 
can't prevent those strikes from occurring and energy will indeed be 
induced into your tower system.  To quote from that last article 
referenced, "The real solution for lightning protection is to have 
control of the strike energy. To do this, a well-designed ground system 
will be a better investment than cluttering up the top of the tower."
Some of you subscribe to disconnection from the tower.  That's fine if 
you can do it.  Do you also disconnect the power, computer, and phone 
lines from your equipment?  Energy can get into your stuff via those 
routes.  Personally, I've got so many radios and cables that 
disconnection would take over an hour to perform and again to reconnect, 
plus I run the local packet cluster and 2M DX talker so I'm committed to 
staying on the air 24/7.  I've gone the total protection route.  All 
cables and wires are protected and the tower/shack/house grounding 
systems is solid and by the book.

To end, we must all employ good grounding practices to deal with the 
induced energy from nearby strikes (from hundreds of feet to miles 
away).  A couple of years ago, lightning blew off the top of a 
neighbor's tree, 300 feet away from my stuff.  That strike induced a 30 
amp plus current into my system.  I know this because the 30 amp fuse to 
the electrical out to the barn was zapped.  My damage, just had to reset 
the 12 volt power supply and degauss the computer monitor.  I'm a firm 
believer that it can be done but if Mother Nature wants to win, I've got 
my insurance policy just in case.  In my experience, most amateurs' 
installations are poorly lacking of good grounding protection.  
Continued good luck to you.  Be safe, Phil  KB9CRY