[AMRadio] 220 vac line

[D. Chester]

The ground rod and #8 or even #4 solid wire wouldn't offer significant 
protection from a direct hit, which may involve thousands of amps.  But most 
of the damage we receive from lightning is from much smaller voltage/current 
surges and spikes that ride in on the power lines from distant strikes, or 
as direct radiation from strikes somewhere in the vicinity, up to several 
thousand feet or maybe even miles away. A good ground connection can help 
take care of those. Lightning rods function by bleeding off the charge to 
help prevent strikes.  Don't count on them to take a major direct hit safely 
to ground resulting in no damage.

I added several buried radials to the ground rod installed under the meter 
at the entrance point, by the power company. That's in addition to the #6 
wire running  from the ground rod at the meter at the house, to the one at 
the a.c. power entrance to the shack, which also has its own radial system. 
Lightning  surges resemble RF  much more than they do 60~ a.c.

Don k4kyv

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