[TowerTalk] lightning arrester suggestions

[Wes Stewart]

 That's my take.  Both my tower and my low-band vertical are over 100 feet from the house.  They both have some driven rods but nothing as heroic as what some other guys write about. Three lengths of Heliax and a rotor control cable run to near the house where they are terminated in connectors.
Cables from inside come through a hole in the wall (8" concrete) and terminate at a homemade version of KF7P's bulkhead ground rod clamps on a driven rod that is bonded to the service entrance panel..
 https://www.kf7p.com/KF7P/Ground_Rod_Clamps.html
During operation, short jumpers connect the two sets of cables.  During lightning season the jumpers are removed.
Wes  N7WS



    On Monday, December 15, 2025 at 03:29:15 PM MST, Jim Brown <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com> wrote:

That depends entirely on the distance between the tower and the 
premises. Lightning is an RF event, and at RF, a wire looks like a big 
inductor. I've seen credible recommendations (IEEE, for example), that 
says if more than 60 ft, (I've used 100 ft) a bonding conductor is not 
needed for lightning safety. BUT -- if there is mains power at the 
tower, wiring to it MUST, by law, carry a bonding conductor (green wire) 
for electrical safety -- that is, to blow a breaker in the event of a 
fault that makes a chassis "hot" to protect personnel.

73, Jim K9YC







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