[TowerTalk] lightning protection

[Alan NV8A]

On 02/28/09 03:48 pm CRAIG CLARK wrote:

> "Techs from Poly Phaser said at the base of tower,"
>
>
> Hmmmm. In a commercial installation I'd agree as there is usually a very
> short run of feedline in to the transmitter room.
>
> In most ham installations, however, the towers and antennas are often some
> distance away from the base of the tower. If you protect at the base of the
> tower, the feed and control lines are vulnerable to EMP from a near field
> strike and you would be unprotected in the shack.
>
> That's why I have all my protection where the feed and control lines enter
> the house. I use a big aluminum box with very short leads to several ground
> rods and bussed with the power line ground.

I may have gone overboard, but I have the appropriate Polyphasers on all 
feed and control lines at the top of the tower and at the base of the 
tower, and on the SPG panel in the shack; AND I disconnect the coax 
jumpers that run from the rig to SPG-panel-mounted Polyphasers and 
reconnect them to grounded-center-pin connectors also mounted on the SPG 
panel.

73

Alan NV8A