[160m] ESD/Lighting Protection

[Tom Rauch]

>
> You can consider the 2-meter, grounded vertical as a tall
lightning
> rod.  At least that is what I consider it to be.
Lightning rods don't
> attract lightning.  They allow the static buildup to
dissipate before it
> reaches the magnitude needed to generate a
catastrophically concentrated
> discharge.  At least that is my take on it.

Actually they don't. It's been proven lightning rods and
even the spine things don't do anything to bleed charges
off.

In order to reduce the charge gradient, you'd have to
provide a path from the cloud to the earth. That wouldn't be
pretty! We call that a lightning bolt.

Try reading this:
http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_PEN1021.asp

or

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010824.html

Lightning rods, if on an insulated structure,  tend to
divert strike energy to the conductor and away from the
building. I have a rod that sticks above the beacon of my
300ft tower, but it only keeps the lightning from hitting
the beacon, it doesn't discharge the cloud and prevent a
hit.

I'm afraid we just have to live with the hits we get and
manage them.

73 Tom