Mike Holt is an expert in grounding & bonding. He has lots of books & you tube videos, this one shows ham radio tower grounding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXYYXAD9Alk From: BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> On Behalf Of Robert Polinski via BVARC Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2021 6:01 PM To: 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' <bvarc@bvarc.org> Cc: Robert Polinski <emdhous...@suddenlinkmail.com> Subject: Re: [BVARC] N5XZ Lightning Strike - Seeking guidance As to methods to lessen the chance of damage. Bond all grounds together with a #6 ga or bigger wire. Antenna, telephone, sat dish, cable and AC Install a surge protector on the main breaker panel, the type that plugs into the bussbars It must have a protected light on it Install High quality surge protection strips on all electronic equipment. All need to have protection lights on them, not just on lights. Make sure your bldg. grounding is clean, tight & sized right for your service. Check your surge protectors regularly. If the protection light is off, replace it. Most use MOV’s and once they take a big hit they are useless. Do not put a Home Depot $15.00 plug strip/ surge protector protecting a $3000.00 radio. Tripplite makes some good surge protectors From: BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> > On Behalf Of Robert Polinski via BVARC Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2021 5:43 PM To: 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> > Cc: Robert Polinski <emdhous...@suddenlinkmail.com <mailto:emdhous...@suddenlinkmail.com> > Subject: Re: [BVARC] N5XZ Lightning Strike - Seeking guidance This is also a National Electrical Code requirement ( That all ground rods be bonded together ) which could result in an insurance denial of claim in event someone smart enough to see that they weren’t. Not likely but possible. Robert From: BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> > On Behalf Of Robert Polinski via BVARC Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2021 5:35 PM To: 'terry leatherland' <k5...@yahoo.com <mailto:k5...@yahoo.com> >; 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> > Cc: Robert Polinski <emdhous...@suddenlinkmail.com <mailto:emdhous...@suddenlinkmail.com> > Subject: Re: [BVARC] N5XZ Lightning Strike - Seeking guidance The reason to bond the 2 systems together is to eliminate any potential difference between them. All grounding systems have resistance. If you pound a ground rod into the earth and attach an extension cord hot wire to it, it will not blow a 15 amp breaker! If your AC ground has say a 25ohm ground resistance, and lets say you put 3 ground rods in for your station (antenna) ground and it has a resistance of 17 ohms. When there is a large current flow (lightning) the current will take the lowest resistance path to earth. If the grounds are separate, the path it takes will be thru your rig or equipment as it contains both a AC ground (ether thru the safety ground or neutral wire) and a antenna ground. By bonding (connecting together) the two grounding systems, there is no difference between the grounds. Although current may flow it will flow to the lowest path & not try to create a path through you equipment. I can take a radio and put 1000 volts on the case but if there are no paths for the current to flow, the rig will see nothing and no damage will be done. A lightning bolt may have several million volts, but that voltage must still overcome resistance as it travels down the wiring and into the earth so the voltage & current will be many times lower, still high, but not millions of volts. Robert From: BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> > On Behalf Of terry leatherland via BVARC Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2021 5:09 PM To: Robert Polinski via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> > Cc: terry leatherland <k5...@yahoo.com <mailto:k5...@yahoo.com> > Subject: Re: [BVARC] N5XZ Lightning Strike - Seeking guidance Robert. HI. I was going to ask this very question. I recently rerouted all of my coax and antenna runs thru a different path into my 2nd floor shack. Below the shack I put in a 8' copper ground rod. I have all 4 coax lines going thru dx engineering lightning arrestors into that ground rod. It is about 40' away on the same house side from my main house AC ground.. Should I just run a 10Gauge wire leg from that new rod to the AC rod, thereby making all of them the same ground structure? Isnt that called a ground loop? or am i reversed in this thinking. Terry Leatherland, K5PGF 281-455-8090 Sugar Land, Tx On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, 04:29:04 PM CDT, Robert Polinski via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> > wrote: Allen, you need to bond your ham ground with your AC ground. Robert From: BVARC <bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org> > On Behalf Of Mark Brantana via BVARC Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2021 3:47 PM To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> >; TDXS Reflector <tdxs-l...@tdxs.net <mailto:tdxs-l...@tdxs.net> >; CTDXCC <ctd...@kkn.net <mailto:ctd...@kkn.net> > Cc: Mark Brantana <n5...@yahoo.com <mailto:n5...@yahoo.com> >; Allen Brier N5XZ <n...@earthlink.net <mailto:n...@earthlink.net> >; Allen Brier <n...@arrl.net <mailto:n...@arrl.net> > Subject: Re: [BVARC] N5XZ Lightning Strike - Seeking guidance I have a new 650 watt computer power supply you can have if you want it. Mark N5PRD Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS> On Tuesday, July 6, 2021, 3:42 PM, Allen Brier N5XZ via BVARC <bvarc@bvarc.org <mailto:bvarc@bvarc.org> > wrote: As many of you know, I have suffered a direct lightning strike here at my station on Monday, June 28th about 6:30 am. It was essentially catastrophic for most of my equipment inside the shack and I am still assessing the damage. I even have some damage to audio gear in another room. Many other homes in the neighborhood also suffered damage, one of them so bad that EVERY piece of electronic equipment in the house was fried. I am still waiting for a power supply to get my computer back up and running, but thanks to Orville K5VWW, we have determined that the hard drive is intact. I am seeking guidance from anyone who has suffered a similar fate. I need to know: - How did you deal with the insurance company? - How did you test equipment to determine the extent of damage? - Did you employ an electrical engineer to provide statement(s) to the insurance company to validate damage? (was is require to?) (Any EE's out there available for this?) - What was claimed? i.e. did you claim all feedlines, cables, adapters, switches, etc. in addition to radios even if there is no damage visible? Any other information which may benefit me in my claim would be appreciated. It may be a while before I am back on the air again from my QTH. Allen Brier N5XZ ________________________________________________ Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club BVARC mailing list BVARC@bvarc.org <mailto:BVARC@bvarc.org> http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Publicly available archives are available here: https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/ <https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/%20> ________________________________________________ Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club BVARC mailing list BVARC@bvarc.org <mailto:BVARC@bvarc.org> http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Publicly available archives are available here: https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/ <https://www.mail-archive.com/bvarc@bvarc.org/%20>
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