[TowerTalk] Routing Cables from New Tower & Lightning Protection

[w6rgs at cox.net]

Hi Ron,

I have a 94' coax run from my tower antennas to the house entrance.  I 
had considered running the cables thru a 3" pvc tube from near the tower 
thru the attic and down into the shack from the ceiling.  Too much of a 
hassle.  Instead, I brought the cables (4) down inside the cable arms 
and ran them along the house under the eaves.  I used 6" screw-in 
bicycle hooks about every 6 feet to hold them.  At the NEMA box outside 
the shack, I dropped the cables to come up under the box and connected 
them to lightning arrestors attached underneath.  The box is grounded to 
an 8ft rod outside the shack, below the NEMA box.   Cables from inside 
get into the box thru a length of 3" galvanized pipe inserted in the 
wall.  Everything is weather-tight.  If I ever need to change out a 
cable, I don't have to crawl under a house or thru the attic. Cables 
inside the shack are grounded with a separate external ground.

Best of luck,

Bill W6RGS

On 3/23/2021 12:11 AM, Ron Hylton via TowerTalk wrote:
> Hello All -
> I'm contemplating the best route for the coax and control cables from a new tower to my single-point ground and shack.  The easiest and shortest way to get the cables to my entry point is by running them through the crawl space of my house (diagonal across the span of the house), and then back outside to the entry point.
> My concern about doing this is bringing the cables into the house (albeit the crawl space) without lightning protection.  Certainly I could install protection at the base of this tower for all lines before making the run under the house, but this doesn't really adhere to the single point ground notion.
> Trying to run the cables underground in conduit to the entry point would be quite a hassle for multiple reasons - a retaining wall in the path, sprinkler system, septic drain field, etc.
> One other note - I'm in the Pacific Northwest, so lightning is not a real common occurrence, but I still want to do this the safe and right way.
> Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
> 73,Ron  AD7LHillsboro, Oregon
>