[TowerTalk] lighting protection setup

[Rick Stealey]

Greetings Jorge,
Good practical info is available on W8JI's website.  http://www.w8ji.com/station_ground.htm

I try to not repeat the info you have been reading in those good publications.  So in summary what you should do is bond the coax shields at the top and bottom of the tower to the tower, and of course the tower is grounded.  Then do the same where the cables enter the house.  Tom does not use lightning arrestors (Polyphasers).  The tower ground and all other grounds need to be bonded together (include the telephone, cable tv, POWER !!!!).  This should keep surges outside your house.
Then at your shack, each piece of equipment should be connected to a point called a single point ground (SGP).  The SGP is also the point where you can install surge suppressors for coax cables.  The SGP should then be connected to a good earth ground as close as possible.  And guess what?  THAT ground rod has to be connected to the other one.  It would be nice if your ham shack was close to where all your cables enter the house.  Then the SGP ground and the entrance ground (along with the electrical power, tc, etc) can all be one and the same.

Maybe I will email you a photo of my SGP (and any other readers who merely send me a one liner and ask for it).  It will help to see something real.

Rick  K2XT



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