After spending a career chasing storms, each summer, following them, strike by
strike, repairing the damages to commercial communicatins radio systems, and
wishing deeply that there were a way to avoid the waste of time and resources
in repairing the inevitable lightning damage.... Motorola gathered together,
and published their R56 grounding standard, Polyphaser, a company that has made
many an engineering carreer paid for, by placing arrestors in line... published
a number of white papers on the subject...
I then had the oppurtunity to embrace this information, and put it to a test.
The very same tower site, that had previously taken one strike and damaged
three stations, one beyond repair, was put to the test... the grounding
standards were installed.. thoroughly.. top to bottom... and underground,
Inside the building and outside.... then it was inspected not once.. but three
times, the last time, was just a few weeks prior to the true test. What was
the real true test? It was not one.. but SIX strikes to the tower, seperated by
by not less than 2 minutes and not more than 10 minutes apart, all from the
same thundershower, accompanied by wind shear and less than a half inch of
rain, hail, and a flurry of snow. Now.. after all that... the damages to the
tower? none. building - none, radios - none. my nerves... a wreck. I watched
the lightning hit, and noting the time, so I would be able to fill out the
response reports and trouble tickets, and invoice correctly... but that t
ime note... was never needed. The 16 radios on site, didn't even hiccup. Not
nary nothing.
I figure that if a commercial site, that has to be on, and in use during a
thunder storm can be made to do that.. then my little radio, that I have worked
deligently to get on the air, and enjoy so much... doesn't deserve to be left
to the whim of a whole herd of out of control electrons on a rampage. And
sometimes... sometimes it is a real blast to not have to pull the plug, when
the thunder announces that there is Lightning withing 5 miles. ... I don't
recommend it tho... but it is nice to know that I don't HAVE to pull all the
plugs RIGHT NOW....
Have a great day,
--... ...-- Dale - WC7S in Wy
> > > I understand the technical reasons that people suggest for grounding but
> > > I do not see the need.
> > > I have no problems.
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