[TowerTalk] Ham Radio Tower & Lightening

[Barbara H Mitchell]

This concerns a problem my neighbors and I are experiencing concerning lightening.  The houses in the neighborhood are close together (14' between houses), all are on water, and most of them have either motor yachts or sailboats.  My immediate neighbor has a huge ham radio tower - possibly illegally.  About a year ago, lightening struck a mast on my lift which put a huge hole through the boat, a huge hole in my pool deck, and also destroyed a large portion of the pool deck foundation.  The 'blast' also killed my computer, telephone system, and lots of electrical wiring in my house.  A transformer in front of my house has been struck by lightening several times.  Last night at a party directly across the canal from me, lightening struck the host's sailboat mast, knocking out electronic equipment.  All the neighbors have had problems with conversations from the ham operator coming through intercom systems, computer speakers, etc.

The owner of the tower has insisted all along that there is an umbrella protection from lightening; we all believed him.  He is a very difficult person to get along with, so confronting him is useless.

My question is:  Is there such a 'thing' as umbrella protection from his tower, or is the tower attracting the lightening?  Could this be a problem with a lack of proper grounds?  

I would really appreciate any suggestions you may have.

Thank you.