[TowerTalk] Vertical antennas and lightning

[David Gilbert]

I'm no expert, but I think that's missing the point.  As I understand 
it, the purpose of using lightning protectors and grounding everything 
to common points, etc is to keep everything at a common potential to 
avoid damage from a strike.  I don't think there is anything in the 
world you can do to prevent a strike, but leaving everything ungrounded 
is almost a guarantee that a strike will cause damage.

Dave   AB7E



On 8/1/2010 1:02 PM, Tommy Alderman wrote:
> This then, means that ICE lightning protectors, with their center conductor
> at DC ground, are really not good protectors to use? Doesn't it also bring
> in to question the advice to connect coax shields to both the top and bottom
> of a tower?
>
> To me, what Dave says, answers the age old question about antennas of any
> kind: 'To ground or not to ground?".
>
> Tom - W4BQF
>
>
> Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Vertical antennas and lightning
>
> Unfortunately in this case the 'bleeding' when there is a charged cloud over
> head is putting charge ONTO the antenna from the ground to equalize it with
> the rest of the charge being attracted to the base of the cloud.  So it make
> it MORE likely to start the upward streamer that completes the path.
>
>
> David Robbins K1TTT
> e-mail: mailto:k1ttt at arrl.net
> web: http://www.k1ttt.net
> AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net
>
>
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