[TowerTalk] lightning arrester suggestions

[n4zkf n4zkf.com]

I as well at the bottom of the tower mounted to red insulators. 16" Buss bar and 9 polys mounted to it. Then coax into shack. I never unhook anything.

As mentioned, the buss bar should be connected to the house ground, and I also have a ground ring around each tower with 9 rods all shot to the ring and not clamped. Keep it all on the same potential.


73 Dave n4zkf

-----Original Message-----
From: TowerTalk <towertalk-bounces at contesting.com> On Behalf Of Jim Brown
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2025 4:49 PM
To: towertalk at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] lightning arrester suggestions

On 12/15/2025 10:13 AM, jim.thom jim.thom at telus.net wrote:
> The ICE, now Morgan  arrestors work superb. They use a static drain 
> resistor, then a  DC blocking cap, then the shunt inductor, then the GDT.

I like this circuit.

I still have a fairly large copper panel full of Polyphasers that K6XX built for me in his shop when I moved here 20 years ago, but they're not repairable and a PITA to replace -- it takes two people to do it, one on each side of the wall.

I had to do it often enough that I added a panel in a large Hoffman box using arrestors using this circuit that Array Solutions was selling. 
They  are repairable, and W6GJB made me some mounting brackets to make that easy to do.

Arrestors can be blown by too much voltage across them. Like when I transmit into the wrong antenna. Or a lightning event.

It's important to remember that arrestors fulfill two distinct functions. First, to short the center to the shield, second to bond the shield to the facility ground system. Because voltage is induced inside the coax by current on the shield, arrestors must be installed in close proximity to the receiver to protect the receiver and the station. An arrestor at the antenna cannot fulfill that function.

AND they can't protect much of anything unless they, and the entire premises, are properly bonded.

BTW -- in my professional life in pro audio, we had to deal with the safety certification requirement for any installed systems that were to be inspected, and it came to light that almost none of the equipment we need to use for high quality systems were certified. At that time (about
25-35 years ago), there were three recognized testing and certification agencies -- UL, CSA (the Canadian agency), and ETL (Electrical Testing Laboratory). UL, based in the US, was VERY expensive, which was why smaller companies didn't spend the money to get certification, and those that did went to CSA.

The pro audio industry got together and pushed UL to reduce the costs associated with their testing, and some went to ETL. It took about five years, but eventually nearly all of the gear we needed to specify carried one of those listings.

73, Jim K9YC





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