[TowerTalk] Lightning protection (N3AE)

[N3AE]

I use wire antennas here, stung up between tall trees. When not operating, the open wire feeders are disconnected from a remote tuner (mounted under the deck) and tied down in the yard 50 or more feet from the house. 


A few years ago, my wire V-Beam must have taken a direct strike. Came home and found it down in the yard. The ladder line was as limp as a overcooked spagetti noodle. All the copper was gone on both sides! The insulation was cracked along the whole length of the ladder line where the vaporized copper must have exited. There was a 10 inch deep hole in the ground where the end of the feedline was tied down. The #14 copper antenna wire also melted at one spot, dropping the antenna off the one of the end insulators. 


Nothing in the house was affected or damaged, but the cat was never the same afterwards when thunder was heard. I should probably note that all the power, phone and cable in our neighborhood is run underground. 


Hate to think what the outcome would have been if the transmission lines were still hooked up, even with lightning arrestors and grounds at the entrance panel. I think I was lucky. 


N3AE