[Elecraft] Lightning protection

[Pete Smith]

I think the problem is that many of our shacks are not ideally situated, 
and the grounding standards cannot be fully implemented.  Mine, for 
example, is on the second floor of an old house.  A low inductance 
ground is impossible to come by up here, and while I believe the 
engineering theory about all grounds rising and lowering together, I 
don't want to risk my precious radios to what may be an imperfect 
implementation.

Since my ham station doesn't need to stay on the air 24/7, I simply 
disconnect everything - every control cable and coax - at the entry into 
the shack.  I've only had one direct strike in the 15 years my tower has 
been up.  In the shack, the noise was impressive, and all the coax 
barrel connectors arced, adding a little ozone to the atmosphere.  
Rotators and switching on the tower was damaged or destroyed, but inside 
the shack nothing was affected, except for a computer on a wired 
network, killed by induced EMP on a 75-foot network cable.  Needless to 
say, my network is wireless now.

73, Pete N4ZR

The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at www.conteststations.com
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On 4/12/2011 10:57 PM, Dale Putnam wrote:
> After spending a career chasing storms, each summer, following them, strike by strike, repairing the damages to commercial communicatins radio systems, and wishing deeply that there were a way to avoid the waste of time and resources in repairing the inevitable lightning damage.... Motorola gathered together, and published their R56 grounding standard, Polyphaser, a company that has made many an engineering carreer paid for, by placing arrestors in line... published a number of white papers on the subject...
>    I then had the oppurtunity to embrace this information, and put it to a test. The very same tower site, that had previously taken one strike and damaged three stations, one beyond repair, was put to the test... the grounding standards were installed.. thoroughly.. top to bottom... and underground, Inside the building and outside.... then it was inspected not once.. but three times, the last time,  was just a few weeks prior to the true test. What was the real true test? It was not one.. but SIX strikes to the tower, seperated by by not less than 2 minutes and not more than 10 minutes apart, all from the same thundershower, accompanied by wind shear and less than a half inch of rain, hail, and a flurry of snow. Now.. after all that... the damages to the tower? none. building - none, radios - none. my nerves... a wreck. I watched the lightning hit, and noting the time, so I would be able to fill out the response reports and trouble tickets, and invoice correctly... but that t
>   ime note... was never needed. The 16 radios on site, didn't even hiccup. Not nary nothing.
>    I figure that if a commercial site, that has to be on, and in use during a thunder storm can be made to do that.. then my little radio, that I have worked deligently to get on the air, and enjoy so much... doesn't deserve to be left to the whim of a whole herd of out of control electrons on a rampage. And sometimes... sometimes it is a real blast to not have to pull the plug, when the thunder announces that there is Lightning withing 5 miles. ... I don't recommend it tho... but it is nice to know that I don't HAVE to pull all the plugs RIGHT NOW....
>
> Have a great day,
> --... ...-- Dale - WC7S in Wy
>
>
>
>>>> I understand the technical reasons that people suggest for grounding but I do not see the need.
>>>> I have no problems.
>   		 	   		
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