[TowerTalk] homebrew low voltage surge suppressors?

[Keith Dutson]

WOW, they certainly have gone up in price! The RCT is now $99 at AES.  But
you will need 12 of the 8 wire RCTs, so that is $1200.  Let us know if you
find a cheaper alternative. Thanks.

73, Keith NM5G

-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dick Green WC1M
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2006 9:36 AM
To: Tower
Subject: [TowerTalk] homebrew low voltage surge suppressors?

My new tower will have three 4-el SteppIRs, three TIC rings, a T2X, a stack
match and an SO2R switch box. That comes to 96 control wires. Since the
tower is over 200 feet from the shack, it's best to have a surge suppressor
at both ends of each wire. I used Polyphaser RCT surge suppressors for my
other tower, but the price has about doubled since I did that. I'm looking
at close to $3,000 worth of RCT surge suppressors. Besides, the RCT mounting
hardware is really designed to clamp to a tower leg and I'll be mounting the
suppressors on ground panels inside metal NEMA boxes. I've done that before
and wasn't real happy with the result. Even if I go with the ICE units,
which have better mounting, the cost will be quite high. 
 
So, I'm wondering if anyone has seen or designed a homebrew low voltage
surge suppressor circuit? My understanding is that it takes more than just
low voltage MOVs. You need series inductance and/or resistance and a diode.
I haven't found anything appropriate on the web. Can someone point me to a
schematic and/or tell me how they did it?
 
73, Dick WC1M
 
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