AI doesn't like my antenna grounding system.

[brandon7861]

They are fairly short, maybe 16" tall on the roof peak. I don't think that braid has any measurable resistance with my crappy DMM.

You didn't say ground, that's just where my mind was at lol

 

[brandon7861]

Is the lightning rod system tied into the service entrance ground? If so it seems kosher.

It seems to be. I get 0.0 ohm measuring between the coax shield and the mains ground, and with the coax disconnected from the radio, it can only go that way via the arrestor bracket/ground.

I thought it was kosher too, but when I explained what I had to AI, it said that foot or whatever above ground is a really bad place to attach the arrestor. If that is true and that much voltage can develop in that distance, then I guess there's probably a lot of people that need to re-evaluate their ground systems.

I would love to know if there are people out there that have tied in an arrestor ground above the rod like I did that could tell me how it worked out in a strike. Did their radios still "explode" like AI is saying will happen?

 

[Crawdad]

I think AL is full of shite on this one. I've never read of or seen an arrestor buried in the ground, just doesn't make any sense.

The only real protection against a direct strike is being disconnected but then the EMP will fry everything anyway. All we can really protect against is EMPs from distant strikes. IMO.

 

[brandon7861]

I think AL is full of shite on this one. I've never read of or seen an arrestor buried in the ground, just doesn't make any sense.

The only real protection against a direct strike is being disconnected but then the EMP will fry everything anyway. All we can really protect against is EMPs from distant strikes. IMO.

Yea, thats what I thought.

Unfortunately, my tower is right against the wall with my workbench (at most, 3 feet from my SA). I just hope that leaving the test gear unplugged and without any cables connected during bad weather is enough to protect them. I doubt it though. A direct hit will probably corrupt firmware or something, idk. I am fairly sure a direct strike will take out everything I have, but the main goal is to keep the house from catching fire if I am gone.

Edit: and it wasn't implying that I bury the arrestor. it just happens that my rods are a little deeper. AI was recommending that I run a dedicated ground cable from the arrestor to the rod itself rather than connecting to the braid further up.

 

[Crawdad]

Yea, thats what I thought.

Unfortunately, my tower is right against the wall with my workbench (at most, 3 feet from my SA). I just hope that leaving the test gear unplugged and without any cables connected during bad weather is enough to protect them. I doubt it though. A direct hit will probably corrupt firmware or something, idk. I am fairly sure a direct strike will take out everything I have, but the main goal is to keep the house from catching fire if I am gone.

Edit: and it wasn't implying that I bury the arrestor. it just happens that my rods are a little deeper. AI was recommending that I run a dedicated ground cable from the arrestor to the rod itself rather than connecting to the braid further up.

Roger that. Probably not a terrible idea to run a piece of solid copper down to your ground rod.