[TowerTalk] Lightning protection for rotator cable

[Gedas]

I will second that, and add, nor are you protected because the lines go underground.  All my lines were underground with at least 200' buried in 4" flexible PVC and sparky still wiped out the shack through a sneak path I had overlooked.

Gedas

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: Pete Smith 
To: Bill Turner ; towertalk at contesting.com 
Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2006 12:59 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Lightning protection for rotator cable


I took a hit on the 40m yagi  on top of my tower, and lost everything that was inside OR on the tower - two rotators, an antenna switch, and a stackmatch.  Fortunately, the cable was unplugged at my entry bulkhead, but IMO you are not necessarily protected by the rotators being inside the tower.

73, Pete N4ZR

At 12:47 PM 11/26/2006, Bill Turner wrote:
>I've read the PolyPhaser document on protection for ham stations but
>it is vague on how to protect rotator cables. First, I wonder how much
>protection, if any, is needed in the first place? In my tower, the
>rotator is inside the tower and the control lines run down inside the
>tower as well. Coming out from the tower at the bottom, they run
>underground to the shack, about 70 feet away. It seems to me that
>neither the rotator nor the lines will ever take a direct hit, but
>they could have some energy induced from the tower itself. 
>
>So I'm wondering if I should bother with protection for the
>cable/rotator? My tower has taken two direct hits in the last two
>years and some damage has resulted, but not to the rotator system. I
>am in the process of upgrading the grounding for the tower and coax
>and that's what brought me to considering the rotator.
>
>All comments welcome.
>
>Bill, W6WRT
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