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Grounding
- Thread starter W1MSG
- Start date
Here is a sticky I made some time ago dealing with grounding. It refers to a wind turbine tower but the principles are the exact same. Lightning can't tell the difference between a wind tower and a radio tower.
http://www.worldwidedx.com/amateur-radio-antennas/136571-good-info-about-grounding.html
BTW Warren, I remember many years ago while at a seminar at Nautel the presenter showed a diagram of a "typical" broadcast site and asked for a show of hands of how many of us had one that looked like it. We all raised our hands and were promptly told "Congratulations....you're all wrong".
And this was a large room full of broadcast professionals too. LOL What you said about should knowing better is true however the word "should" does not mean "does".
Well, the Kitty Hawk WAS a real Naval ship - she's been decommissioned for about 5 years now, but still floating at the west end of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard..
In Radio Central we had receiving antenna patch panels with which we could connect a couple hundred different receivers to a couple dozen different receiving antennas. Did we ever disconnect them and put the ends in glass jars? Maybe some of the junior officers would have liked to, but no, we didn't. Same for the transmitting antennas. The coax for those was pretty much inaccessible. No chance of disconnecting without tearing out a lot of ship's structure.
We took lots of hits from lightning; never missed a beat in communicating.
Like CK said -- if lightning can travel through open air for a couple miles or more, I don't think 1/8" of ANY formula of glass is going to deter it from going wherever it wants to go. I'm not going to stand in its way!
My take on bonding and station configuration.
http://members.rennlist.org/warren/grounding.pdf
There are links near the end for writeups by Polyphaser and Nautel.
http://members.rennlist.org/warren/grounding.pdf
There are links near the end for writeups by Polyphaser and Nautel.
Warren:
How does EMP work in this situation?
Obviously, if a station is struck by lighting and continues to operate; then the EMP must have been eliminated as a problem too.
But I just cannot see how that aspect of it can be true, as it requires going to special lengths to that end.
-Robb
How does EMP work in this situation?
Obviously, if a station is struck by lighting and continues to operate; then the EMP must have been eliminated as a problem too.
But I just cannot see how that aspect of it can be true, as it requires going to special lengths to that end.
-Robb
thanks a bunch..lots to read and learn..will get started later this week and hopefully learn something..i hate unhooking all the time but get warned by so many locals i just do it..would be nice to have a diff outlook on it and be able to tell folks that un hook,,that i never do
The EMP from a lightning strike basically induces a voltage in any conductors nearby. If those conductors are properly bypassed or grounded then the problem is eliminated. Aa for the EMP penetrating the equipment cabinet, again if it is properly grounded it should not be an issue.
I haven't looked into EMP specifically, only the issues of very high currents passing through equipment between various sources. I've been told that a Faraday cage can protect things inside, but nothing else can be connected to it. Put a tower on each corner of your house and run a wire connecting the top of each one. Ground each tower, bond the bases together, etc. You can't install antennas on them. They act as EMP shields only. More reading is needed.