Antenna and lightning ?

[BammBamm]

I was wondering do any of you who are using a aluminum antenna without a lightning arrestor disconnect your coax from radio during a severe storm? I had a older gentleman who lives by me tell me " If I where you I would disconnect that antenna before it gets hit by lightning my old XYZ antenna got hit back in 19?? and it took out all my gear and almost burned my house down" it is starting to rain here and we have severe storm warning for the next few hours. Would you install a lightning arrestor or not? My antenna is directly connected to ground through the tower plus I have a 8 gauge wire from the base to a 8 foot copper ground rod. I don't want to have to disconnect every time it rains and hasn't technology advanced enough with design that this is a rare occurrence?

 

[unit_399]

I ALWAYS disconnect my antennas whenever a thunder storm approaches. Better safe than sorry.

- 399

 

[Robb]

Even if you have the arrestors and everything done right, I would STILL disconnect the coax and toss it out the window and unplug your gear.

Radio operators need to make this concession, especially if you live in an area of the country where lightning is commonplace.

Lightning is an equal opportunity killer.

 

[GnG8d]

My antenna is directly connected to ground through the tower plus I have a 8 gauge wire from the base to a 8 foot copper ground rod.

I would put a rod on each leg with radials using copper strip instead of wire.

 

[KingCobra_CDX882]

Myself..

I am un-able to bury a ground rod in concrete sidewalks..
So i disconnect the coax and toss it out the window and unplug my gear. (same as a friend does with his antennas as well )

So far ( Knock on wood ) even with many heavy lightning storms and with even the very large Interceptor I-10K antenna on my roof and mounted on 20 ft of mast (as well as 3 beams closer to the roof and to fiberglass antennas ) i have been OK

 

[Cheech]

If you take a direct hit a lightning arrester wont always save your equipment.

If you are seriously considering a lightning aresster, Polyphaser is the only one I will recommend. http://www.protectiongroup.com/PolyPhaser

 

[wavrider]

The only time my coax is connected is when I am using that antenna, if not it is disconnected at the feed through to the shack.

Towers grounded, fed through grounded.

Lightning strikes are catastrophic, knock on wood I have not lost any gear due to lightning, antennas is a different story, Lightning capitol of the world here in Florida.

If you are not using the rig, unplug it and disconnect the coax and get the coax out of the building. Lightning will jump from the coax to the nearest ground inside the building (radio chassis) so just disconnecting the coax is not enough.

 

[74IN]

I would put a rod on each leg with radials using copper strip instead of wire.

Why?

 

[RatsoW8]

Lightning strikes are going to happen. The absolute best anyone can do is reduce the chances of that happening and even that is questionable in most situations. Lightning arrestors? LOL That's like trying to prevent a tiger attack with a toothpick. Grounding, bonding, straps and fancy arrestors might just help keep charges from building up on a tower or antenna but eventually lightning will strike and it will do damage.

I always disconnect transmissions lines outside the house. Anything less and you are risking all your expensive gear. Over the years I've had several close strikes and at leat one confirmed to my tower. No damage to gear because all my transmission lines were disconnected outside the house. Simple.

 

[W5LZ]

The whole idea is to provide a lower resistance path to ground so that current will take it rather than going any further toward places where you don't want that current.
The longer it takes for that current to be dissipated the 'further' it may 'back-up' into higher resistance paths (yeah, bad way of saying it, but you get the idea). So, the more low resistnace conductor used, the 'further' that current can get before starting to 'back-up', meaning a couple or few ground -rods- typically ain't gonna dissipate/use up much current. Radials will dissipate/use up much more current, the longer the better since they also transfer that current to dirt. If you relate it to surface area, several wires longer than that ground rod will dissipate more than the ground rod. A ground rod ran horizontally, rather than vertically, will dissipate the same amount of current. Deeper in dirt doesn't have any appreciable benefits.
Why do power companies use ground rods rather than radials? Couple of reasons. A ground rod is easier for them to find room to pound into the ground, and the amount of current that may have to be dissipated is microscopic when compared to lightning. The typical time for installing them is also shorter, so they aren't out as much in 'wages' for those who do it.
It's impossible to 'over-do' lightning protection. It's very easy to 'under-do' it...
- 'Doc

(The best source of information about all this is the NEC. Just remember that it's also the minimum requirement in most cases, not the maximum.)

 

[GnG8d]

Why?

^^what he said

The rods don't even need to be 8' deep, but the radials should be that or longer.

 

[hookedon6]

...Lightning strikes are catastrophic,...If you are not using the rig, unplug it and disconnect the coax and get the coax out of the building....

good advice, it's amazing the number of people that will disconnect the coax,.............. and then forget about the rotor cable

 

[Robb]

good advice, it's amazing the number of people that will disconnect the coax,.............. and then forget about the rotor cable

That is a fair point.
BTW - If you have your gear still hooked up to ground during a thunder storm, that is also dangerous.
Quick disconnects needed there too . . .

 

[RatsoW8]

THis happened locally last night. I heard this guy was carrying a lightning arrrestor in his pocket and also felt at this point in his life, that he was quite grounded...

5/12/11
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - He just wanted to get a better look at the storm.

It was around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday and the storm was putting on quite a show.

As the lightning bolts skittered across the sky, Aaron Paiz and his 11-year-old stepson looked on from the front porch of their Alger Heights home.

"It started to get a little intense," Paiz told 24 Hour News 8, "so I said we should go inside."

That is when the lightning found him. It all happened so fast.

"I saw a bright flash, felt it run up my body and heard a loud crack," Paiz said.

The force of the blast knocked the screen off the door of the home in the 2400 block of Mildred Avenue SE.

Paiz' wife, Amy, said it sounded like a car hit the house.

"I felt a numbing sensation up my legs and across my chest," Paiz said, adding he felt a little light headed and dizzy.

He called his doctor. The doctor said, "Get to the hospital."

In the emergency room at Saint Mary's Health Care in Grand Rapids, the doctors let Paiz know how lucky he was. They ran a number of tests but didn't find any internal damage.

It's not clear right now exactly where the bolt of lightning hit. But it didn't hit Paiz directly. Otherwise, there might have been a very different outcome from that foray onto the porch.

From his hospital bed, Paiz told 24 Hour News 8 he is feeling pretty good, considering he had such a close call with Mother Nature. He expects to be released sometime Thursday.

On her Facebook page, Amy Paiz kept everyone up to date on her husband's brush with death, but couldn't hide her shock that it happened to her family.

"I love watching storms," she wrote, "and never thought in a million years this would happen! It was seriously the scariest thing I ever heard/seen! What a night!"

 

[Robb]

Nice find - Ratso.
Yeah, an indirect strike can also stop the heart and de-fibrillation becomes necessary.
There are usually long term effects, such as gradual loss of hearing, sight, taste, and smell too.

Lighting is fun to watch from a distance . . .