[Icom] Strike-O.T.

Thu May 6 17:24:15 EDT 2004

I was reading on the net somewhere about a lightning cap for use on
towers.  It looks like a frayed group of steel wires pointed up and
attached to a #6 solid copper wire that went down the tower to the
ground rod.  The reason for the copper was that steel has more
resistance so lightning would most likely try to route itself down the
coax or rotor cable.  The copper wire run down the length of the tower
provide a much larger current drain and thus more safety to equipment
attached to the tower.  

Buck
NA4FM

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] 
> Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 10:22 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Icom] Strike-O.T.
> 
> 
> Back to protecting my 756 Pro II and 4KL ( hopefully Dick we 
> are on topic ), why doesn't a well grounded 50' tower ( two 
> 8' copper coated rods 7.5' in the ground attached to the 
> tower ) act as a "lightening rod" protecting other lower structures?
> 
> Most tall commercial structures seem to have lightening rod 
> protection  ( the 19 story building I'm currently in for 
> example ) and I've never heard of a strike wiping out any of 
> the building's electronics.
> 
> Andy K5VM
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <[email protected]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2004 9:09 AM
> Subject: Re: [Icom] Strike-O.T.
> 
> 
> | In a message dated 05/06/2004 06:24:15 Eastern Daylight Time,
> [email protected]
> | writes:
> |
> | << Most damaging hits come in the power lines.  
> Suprisingly, the tower
> hits
> | are not as damaging as the power line hits.  Tower hits 
> sometime cause 
> | no damage at all (I've been at the site during a couple of these).  
> | The power
> line is
> | usually the culpret of most of the worse damage, and it is 
> capable of
> handling
> | tremendous surge currents before the breakers trip. >>
> |
> | Hmmm, just wondering what is likely to occur when a power 
> line carring 
> | BPL
> is
> | struck?  Are the "bridging caps" going to pop?  Will the in 
> line amps 
> | experience failure?  Or is this wishful thinking on my part?
> |
> | 73 de k3yd
> | ----
> | Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, [email protected] Icom 
> | Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 14.316 MHz Icom FAQ: 
> | http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> 
> 
> ----
> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, 
> [email protected] Icom Users Net: Sundays, 1700Z, 
> 14.316 MHz Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
> 
> 
> 