[TowerTalk] Lightning protection (?) for Ameritron RCS-10 antenna switch

[Rob Atkinson]

It's a good thing to do.  It won't fully protect but it will add some
X(L) in series with the strike RF.   You frequently see a one turn
loop in the feed to an AM tower from the tuning house for the same
reason.  By the way, it's also advisable to take excess power cord
length in your shack and wrap them into coil bundles for the same
reason.   Making it harder to go one way means it's easier to go the
way you want it to, but you have to have an easier way like a low
resistance path directly to ground.

73
Rob
K5UJ

>I just bought a new Ameritron RCS-10 to replace my old switch, which was damaged by lightning.  In reading the instructions, I was struck by the suggestion of making  2 6" diameter turns in each coax line coming into the >relay box at the tower, no more than 3 feet from the switch itself, what they call "lightning retarding loops."

>I don't think I've ever seen this anywhere else, and wonder if there's anything to it. It doesn't seem as if there would be enough inductance in such loops to offer any degree of protection.