Questions tagged [lightning]
Questions about lightning safety, mainly in regards to antennas and feedlines
39
questions
3
votes
1
answer
270
views
Bonding ground rods for lighting protection
I am installing 2 antenna masts on one end of my house. The utility ground is on the far end of the house, and was buried under the asphalt driveway.
Working with my electrician, he suggests 2 ground ...
- 97
3
votes
1
answer
75
views
Route cables on the inside of the tower?
I was visiting a customer site who had their equipment fried by lightning and granted they forgot to install surge protection, so that's most likely what did it, however I also noticed they had the ...
- 444
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Can I connect my station ground to my house's ground rod?
I'm setting up my first HF rig and I'm reading a lot of conflicting information regarding station grounding. Can I connect my HF rig/station's ground to my house's ground rod or do I need a stand-...
- 133
4
votes
5
answers
640
views
Antenna grounding / bonding in relation to my AC service (with pictures)
I'm trying to figure out how to properly connect new ground rods for an antenna to my main panel. Any advice from those who have done this + have great electrical knowledge would be greatly ...
- 367
2
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What's the proper way to mount antenna mast to the side of a house?
I'd like to mount an antenna mast to the gable end of my house. I was planning for the mast to extend from ~10 feet above the roofline down to the ground. I've seen wall mounts specifically for masts, ...
- 659
6
votes
2
answers
219
views
Where can one get a "listed" SO-239 lightning arrester?
According to this summary of NEC requirements for radio antenna grounding (from 2014, but hopefully still somewhat accurate):
https://www.mikeholt.com/files/PDF/Radio_and_Television_2014NEC.pdf
It ...
- 438
2
votes
1
answer
503
views
Where to disconnect feed line for lightning safety?
I recently moved to a storm prone area, so I plan to disconnect my shack connections when not operating. An electrician is helping me install a ground rod (bonded to my utility ground) soon, but I ...
- 438
1
vote
1
answer
180
views
Can I use inductive coupling to pass low power (< 50W) VHF transmit and receive through glass?
I want/need to put up an outside antenna, ideally without inviting lightning into the house. One idea that occurred to me was to use inductive coupling to pass signal through the glass of a window, ...
- 4,097
3
votes
1
answer
825
views
Can I use electrical ground / earth as my RF ground?
I live on a high floor in an apartment block and have a radial-free multi-band vertical antenna attached to my terrace railing. This is the antenna :
https://www.thunderpole.co.uk/amateur-radio-...
- 568
4
votes
3
answers
345
views
Electromagnetic signal from spark gap
I am a power electrical engineer college student, and I have a project to make an antenna for magnetic direction finding.
My main topic is to detect lightning strikes, but its to hard due to ...
- 129
2
votes
3
answers
635
views
Why is outer coax usually grounded?
I'm building a simple ground plane antenna for VHF, and I'm doing some research on grounding in case I want to permanently install it. I keep hearing that the ground rod is connected to the outer coax ...
- 199
2
votes
2
answers
341
views
How far from a cable entry point can the lighting suppressor be installed
I'm installing a transceiver in an office on the ground floor of a warehouse. The antenna will be 45 feet above the office on the roof of the warehouse. The ceiling of the office is a drop ceiling, ...
- 339
5
votes
2
answers
240
views
What are these antennas?
On a recent trip to China I photographed a number of "antennas" that I do not recognize. Are they even antennas?
- 71
1
vote
1
answer
225
views
Lightning protection for a vent stack antenna
I've seen ham radio antennas that slide over a vent stack. The usually way to connect them to the transceiver is to lay the feedline across the roof. However, the manufacturer provides instructions ...
- 659
3
votes
1
answer
356
views
Grounding for lightning safety - upper floor (UHF/microwave antennas)
I have some UHF, microwave antennas and an antenna rotator on a roof mounted mast. The "radio room" is in the second floor just below the antennas. Also the service entrance for building electricity ...
- 224
0
votes
1
answer
443
views
Is a lightning arrestor required with a ground rod?
I am building an out building ham shack. I am planning to install an 8 foot ground rod for the antenna. Does the radio require an additional ground to the rod as well or do I need to install a ...
8
votes
3
answers
524
views
Do lightning rods attract or do they help prevent lightning?
I'd read that the current theory of how lightning rods protect a house, antenna tower, or other structure is by preventing lightning from striking -- that is, the sharply pointed rod lets charge ...
- 4,097
3
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Why have knife switch storm grounds for antennas vanished?
Long ago, it was fairly standard to provide lightning protection for outdoor radio antennas by installing a large double-throw knife switch -- antenna leads to the center, radio on one side, ground on ...
- 4,097
6
votes
1
answer
147
views
How do Field Day participants protect from lightning?
I'm planning to attend Field Day this weekend, and the forecast calls for thunderstorms.
I can picture a serious issue with a bunch of temporary antennas set up in an open area when a thunderstorm ...
- 4,097
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Grounding a chimney mounted antenna
I'm installing a new antenna mast to hold one or more antennas. The new mast will be strapped on to a chimney near the center of my house. Coax will run down the mast, across the roof, down the side, ...
- 371
2
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Do I have to disconnect antennas during thunderstorms?
lightning damage can be extensive and costly, its even life-threatening.
If I have properly grounded the equipment and have a Surge protection device, do I have to disconnect the antennas during the ...
- 573
1
vote
1
answer
355
views
How large and where should a perimeter ground be installed?
From a comment on How can I protect equipment against a lightning strike?
Most of the damage from nearby strikes comes from strong voltage
gradients over the ground or between the ground and ...
4
votes
1
answer
284
views
Is this transmission line peak voltage formula published in CQ Magazine more accurate?
In his July 2018 article in CQ magazine entitled “Lightning (and EMP) Surge Protection for HF Radios”, Steven Karty, N5SK based much of his analysis for properly specifying a GDT (Gas Discharge Tube) ...
- 18.5k
0
votes
1
answer
120
views
Does the E-field propagate faster that the H-field?
I need some proof that the electric (E-field) and the magnetic component (H-field) of a lightning stroke both propagate at the speed of light, and that there is not a significant delay between them.
...
- 7,864
6
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Lightning strikes nearby and coaxial cable
A direct hit on my home by lightning is very, very unlikely. However, many lightning strikes that hit Earth nearby are by far the main hazard for ham radio gear (in my opinion, after 60 years in the ...
- 61
3
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Lightning protection by disconnect
Currently I am evaluating options for my antenna's in regards to lightning protection.
My setup is a physical disconnect of all my antennas using an outside "patch panel". So every time I power up ...
- 2,137
2
votes
2
answers
430
views
How to weatherize a Polyphaser surge protector?
Polyphaser sells a WK-1 weatherproofing kit for their devices that are not weatherized such as the IS-50 series. It looks like a plain sheet of weatherproofing tape like any other, such as might be ...
- 51.6k
5
votes
4
answers
6k
views
I am installing a ham radio and want to properly ground it
I am installing a ham radio and want to properly ground it.
I will be including a lightning arrester that will also go the the ground.
I will have a 20' mast with a long wire antenna running 130+ ...
Chris Baker
3
votes
2
answers
859
views
Are used PolyPhaser IS-50 RF surge protectors likely to work?
I'm looking at buying a used IS-50NX-C0:
The listings usually say something like "Used, pulled from working equipment." While I'd believe they still work as far as normal operation is concerned, I ...
- 51.6k
2
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Grounding Help - Where To Route My Wires
Here is my situation. My antenna mast is on the opposite side of the house from my ham shack, same with the power service entrance. I have installed ground rods roughly every 16 feet with #6 wire ...
- 21
4
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Colocated three orthogonal wire loops for lightning detection network
I'm considering building multi-turn wire loop receive antennas for a blitzortung.org lightning detection receiver. It has three separate channels for H-field antennas, operating simultaneously.
...
- 143
4
votes
5
answers
9k
views
Grounding a dipole
How do you properly ground a dipole (RX only for VHF scanning) to protect it against ESD/lightning?
In my set up i'm putting a dipole on my roof. I've connected the two dipole elements together with ...
- 143
2
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Diamond X200A Lightning Protection
Please forgive the naive question, as I've been away from the hobby for too long, but want to make sure I do this right.
We just added an addition to our house, and I lost my usual mounting place for ...
- 139
2
votes
5
answers
1k
views
What would be the easiest and most cost effective ground system for a startup UHF/VHF station
I just passed both my Technician and General Class license this past weekend, and am now contemplating my first station. To get my feet wet I'm planning on getting a Yaesu FT-7900R Dual band Radio ...
6
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Lightning Dissipators
I have heard about many lightning protection strategies in the shack, but nobody mentioned the lightning dissipator.
The lightning dissipator consists of many small spikes and prevents a strike by ...
- 7,580
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Adequate lightning protection for sloped dipole or G5RV?
Has anyone had experience, or knows from first principles, whether installing a G5RV or dipole BELOW a "lightning-rod" in such a manner would serve as a means of discouraging direct lightning strikes ...
- 895
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How to keep a disconnected coaxial connector weatherproof?
The advice I have seen on lightning safety is that if you don't have high-quality lightning protection (and associated grounding) installed on your feed line, it is advisable to, during a storm and ...
- 24.4k
6
votes
2
answers
4k
views
DIY lightning arrestor - gap size?
I have an antenna that's well above the treeline, and I've heard I can add some small amount of protection by placing two bolt heads a short distance from each other, one connected to the antenna, the ...
- 12.1k
25
votes
6
answers
14k
views
How can I protect equipment against a lightning strike?
A lot of aerials (almost by design) would be rather good attractors of lightning. What steps do I need to take in the field to keep my gear safe against a lightning strike?
I'm presuming the obvious ...
- 1,744