[TowerTalk] Connecting Tower to Ground Rod

[Jim Lux]

On 10/10/13 8:16 AM, Stan Labinsky Jr. wrote:
> IIRC you tie the coax shield to the tower at its base for two reasons,
> with a kinda common thread.
>
> 1) To eliminate any possible side flashes through the coax's outer
> insulation, thereby saving the cable.
>
> 2) Connecting the shield to one of the lowest potential points, thereby
> draining a good bit of the strike to closest earth ground.
>
> Not tying it to the tower base is like connecting a meter probe to the
> highest potential point, the point of the strike, the top of the tower,
> and bringing that potential into your shack to the meter, all of your
> expensive equipment so that it can measure the full effect of the
> strike... POOF!


Agreed..

I think the other discussion is whether it is worth running another 
parallel conductor from tower to shack (where tower and shack aren't 
co-located) to bond the ground system of tower to ground system of shack.

I'm not sure that's worth it.  OTOH, if you're already digging a trench, 
laying conduits, buying multiple runs of hardline coax at a dollar a 
foot, maybe adding a bonding conductor, and burying it separately, isn't 
a big deal.