[TowerTalk] Grounding

[Glenn Pritchard]

Hi Chuck
On Vancouver Island we generally don’t get lightning anywhere near us on the east side of the island. This is more common around Torino and south. Here in Campbell River it is rare to hear thunder however we do have substantial ground systems in place.

Glenn, VA7UO 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 7, 2019, at 11:32 AM, Chuck Dietz <w5prchuck at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I used to have a tall tower close to salt water. It was the tallest thing
> for miles. It was never directly hit. My theory was that the lightning
> preferred the highly conducive salt water.
> 
> Chuck W5PR
> 
>> On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 1:03 PM Richard Smith <n6kt1 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>> 
>> I visited the launch base at Kourou, French Guiana, a few years ago. They
>> have 4 towers around the rocket at the launch site, for lightning
>> protection. Overkill for a ham station, but maybe there is an idea there.
>> 
>> Ariane 5 rocket arrives at launch pad with two TV broadcast satellites –
>> Spaceflight Now
>> 
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>> Ariane 5 rocket arrives at launch pad with two TV broadcast satellites –...
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>> 73, Rich, N6KT
>>    On Saturday, September 7, 2019, 10:38:21 AM PDT, Grant Saviers <
>> grants2 at pacbell.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Isn't that done in high voltage switchgear centers?  I see lots of tall
>> poles with spikes on top.
>> 
>> Also google "oil field lightning protection"
>> 
>> One of my EE professors supposedly got very rich doing this during Texas
>> wildcatting days.
>> 
>> Grant KZ1W
>> 
>>> On 9/7/2019 8:39 AM, Richard Smith wrote:
>>> Is there any value in the idea to put up some kind of structure, fairly
>> far away from your antennas, and design it so that it has a better
>> lightning path to ground than your towers and antennas??? Could it draw
>> lightning strikes away from your towers and antennas?
>>> Trying to think outside the box...
>>> 73, Rich, N6KT
>>>     On Thursday, September 5, 2019, 06:43:27 AM PDT, john at kk9a.com <
>> john at kk9a.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Lightning is very good at finding a path to ground. make it a more
>>> desirable one.
>>> 
>>> John KK9A
>>> Sent via the Samsung Galaxy 7 edge, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone.
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On Thu, Sep 5, 2019 at 9:37 AM Chuck Dietz <w5prchuck at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> I had everything disconnected but the ground and a clock on top of an
>> amp.
>>>> Lightning surge came through the power lines, through the clock and in
>> to
>>>> the amp on its way to ground.
>>>> Now I disconnect the ground.
>>>> 
>>>> Chuck W5PR
>>>> 
>>>>> On Thu, Sep 5, 2019 at 8:01 AM <john at kk9a.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> What ground??? Do you use a seperate ground going from your radio
>>>>> chassis to a ground rod? I have my equipment bonded together but no RF
>>>>> ground and no RFI issues.
>>>>> 
>>>>> John?? KK9A/4
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> K9MA wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> My theory has always been that, with the station equipment well bonded
>>>>> together, it is safe to leave the ground connected, as long as
>>>>> EVERYTHING else is disconnected. That leaves no path for current to
>> flow
>>>>> through anything. I can disconnect the transmitting antennas with one
>>>>> coax, all the control cables and rx antennas with another big
>> connector,
>>>>> and power with one 120 and one 240 V plug. That just leaves the
>> ethernet
>>>>> cable, which I try not to forget.
>>>>> 
>>>>> In any case, my primary goal is to prevent a fire, and disconnecting
>> the
>>>>> ground from the equipment probably wouldn't help there. I hope I never
>>>>> have to test that theory.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 73,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Scott K9MA
>>>>> 
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