[TowerTalk] FIRST TOWER & 2ND FLOOR SHACK --HELP

[john at kk9a.com]

I also have a 2nd floor station, I have no RF ground. W8JI has information
in his site regarding second floor grounding
http://www.w8ji.com/second_floor_grounding.htm

John KK9A

To:	towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: [TowerTalk] FIRST TOWER & 2ND FLOOR SHACK --HELP
From:	 Wayne Willenberg
Date:	 Wed, 7 Aug 2013 09:22:03 -0400

My *first tower* (a 100’ crank-up including the mast) is scheduled to
arrive in mid-October.  It will be located 150’ from the base of my house.

The problem is, *my shack is located on the second floor of my house*.  So,
all cables that will go to and from the tower first go through the second
floor wall, down the exterior wall (a distance of about 20’) to a central
grounding point.

I just finished reading a technical note from PolyPhaser called “Ham Radio
Station Protection.”  It suggested for my situation (i.e., shacks that are
above the basement) that coax, ground strap and rotor cables that run
vertically up my outside wall Might inductively couple some energy from the
tower, if it was struck by lightning, to the shack.

The article suggested having all of the cables go through surge protectors
at the base of the tower and then run through EMT (electrical metal tubing)
that is grounded to the tower base *only *and runs all the way from the
tower base to the second floor shack.  The article says the EMT will act
like a *Faraday shield* for the cables inside.

I can understand this approach for the vertical run up the exterior wall of
my house, but does it make sense to use EMT all the way from the tower?
How about the 2” ground strap that will run from the ground protection
system around the base of the tower to my shack.  Following this logic,
shouldn’t it be inside the EMT?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Wayne, KK6BT