[TowerTalk] Surge Suppressor Question

[Roger (K8RI)]

Michael Goins wrote:
> Joe,
>
> I have everything arranged to disconnect outside the shack. Easiest to
> do to me and requires simply moving the antenna and feedlines, etc. to
> grounds.
>   
I ground the coax shields at the top and bottom of the tower and again 
where they come through the grounded bulkhead at the back of the house. 
I have too many feed lines to disconnect and then ground for safety.
I'm redoing the system, but I did have 5 runs of LMR-400, 4 of RG-6 (2 
to TV antennas and 2 to satellite dish) one rotator cable, one to the 
SO-2R 6-pack, and two to remote antenna switches.  All antennas, except 
the 160 half sloper are at DC ground.  That feed line like the others is 
~228' with the jacket grounded in the 3 spots. There are now 3 120' runs 
of CAT6 that run with the other cables through the basement and then 
parallel and about 12' from the feed lines as it crosses the *ceiling* 
of the garage.  They then go to the shop in shallow underground PVC 
conduit and run within about 10' of the tower base.  Those lines tie to 
the computers in the shop that are tied into the rigs out there.  That 
shack is on a completely different electrical feed although all of the 
grounds for both electrical systems tie together.

I rarely disconnect anything as the storm would be past by the time I 
could get it all done.
The tower has now taken 17 direct and verified hits since it was 
basically finished in the late summer of 2001. That's excluding wire 
antennas.

There's that saying about going indoors when the lightning is close 
enough to hear the thunder. I take the same approach in handling 
conductors that go to a tower that sticks up about 130' above the 
surrounding territory.   I was out flying at 5000' out in bright sun 
when a lightning bolt came out of an isolated, towering cumulus about 
12-15 miles away. That bolt came directly at us and then curved down to 
hit the ground about 2 miles from us.  That strike was well over 10 
miles from the base of the storm.

All systems are pretty much tied together. Phone, cable, power, 
satellite, regular TV, and computers run to many pieces of common 
equipment yet no damage from direct hits... Well, with the exception 
that the fittings on top of the tower are pretty well etched.  Prior to 
the elaborate ground system, early on in the construction I lost an 
antenna, several feed lines, one radio due to water running out of the 
9913 (Lightning removed every bit of tape and coax seal at the top of 
the tower), and one computer.  With the old 90' tower, I lost one 
repeater antenna and one 2-meter transceiver.(Near as I can recollect.)

Now with only one installation that is nothing more than anecdotal 
evidence, but to me it's pretty compelling. <:-))
The next strike might take out the whole system.

73

Roger (K8RI)
> Michael Goins, k5wmg
> Professor, Writing
> University of Texas at San Antonio
>
>
>
> On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 6:40 PM, Joe <wd0m at wd0m.com> wrote:
>   
>> Just ordered an ICE suppressor and received it within 10 days.  We
>> experienced a lightning strike near the house a month or so ago, and
>> none of the ham gear protected by the ICE suppressors was impacted in
>> the least.  I lost a PC, HDTV, Bose stereo, and some other gear due to
>> the energy coming into the house through a phone line.
>>
>> 73
>>
>> Joe
>> WDØM
>>
>> Jerry wrote:
>>     
>>> I am going to redo my lightning protection system, but have a question
>>> on which suppressor to use. Third parties say:
>>>
>>> ICE - good, but heard horror stories on prompt delivery of products
>>> Alpha Delta - seems okay
>>> PolyPhaser - have read about high power blowing units
>>>
>>> Do any of you have any ideas for me?  Thank you.
>>> Jerry France
>>> K7LY
>>> Lake Havasu City, AZ
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