[TowerTalk] Weird lightning hit

[David Gilbert]

I'm pretty certain that how well the tower is installed has next to 
nothing to do with whether or not lightning strikes it.

What happens if and when the tower does get hit could be a different 
story, of course.

Dave   AB7E



On 10/1/2021 1:13 PM, Dan Cisson wrote:
> The sweet gum has more “wetness”.  A lot of water.   Pines are not, 
> they are gummy
> But as far as the 100 foot tower, the guy that put it up REALLY knew 
> what he was doing !!🤣
> Dan N4GNR
>
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone 
> <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS>
>
> On Friday, October 1, 2021, 4:05 PM, David Gilbert <ab7echo at gmail.com> 
> wrote:
>
>
>     All lightning is weird and unpredictable.  There are countless
>     stories
>     of lightning hitting something on the ground while missing a nearby
>     pole, tower, building, or tree.
>
>     73,
>     Dave   AB7E
>
>
>
>     On 10/1/2021 12:32 PM, Ignacy Misztal wrote:
>     > My QTH has two sets of antennas. A 100 ft tower with phased
>     beams at 100
>     > and 60 ft, also supporting 4 sq for 80 and shunt fed for 160m.
>     Some 120ft
>     > apart, a Spiderbeam on a 45 ft aluminum Spiderpole and rotated
>     by G-800DXA.
>     >
>     > Recently the rotator for the Spiderbeam stopped working. There
>     is no DC
>     > output from the controller but the position indicator is OK. With
>     > external DC the rotor works.  About 30 ft from the Spiderpole, a
>     60 ft high
>     > sweetgum tree exploded vertically. But an 80ft pine tree
>     embracing the
>     > sweetgum is fine.
>     >
>     > Apparently the lightning hit the sweetgum and induced enough
>     current to
>     > partly blow the Yaesu controller.
>     >
>     > A few questions to the knowledgeable.
>     >
>     > Why the smaller tree was hit and the bigger is fine? Why other
>     trees up to
>     > 100 ft are OK? Why the 100ft tower shows no damage? Is the Yaesu
>     controller
>     > vulnerable to lightning hits? Is it worth repairing?
>     >
>     > The tower is well grounded and the antennas by the house are
>     bonded. The
>     > Spiderbeam rested on 4 ft metal poles and was not grounded otherwise
>     >
>     > Ignacy, NO9E
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