Lightning Protection & Grounding

This topic generates lots of interest and discussion each time it appears in our morning QSOs. Today we enjoyed some excellent discussion by W8NSA on the related concept of a ground window to ensure equal ground potential for all components that are exposed to lightning-related surges.  KB4XX found this 3-page article about the ground window concept.


Jim's Bell System experience with central office grounding provides him with a clear understanding of how to apply the concepts to ham radio as well as commercial installations. We look forward to his contributions to future discussions of this subject.


I'm including below some links to previously collected articles on the overall subject. These may help to refresh your knowledge of the subject and to support future on-air discussions.

• Lightning Protection for the Radio Amateur -- an archived copy of the 3-part series from QST.
• Special Publications from Industrial Communications Engineers. This provides links to several relevant publications.
• Selecting and Installing Lightning Protection Devices -- lots of product specifics and installation details.
• Dodging Thor's Hammer -- an article by KT9OM

Back in 2008 we discussed the subject, too, as evidenced by this earlier blog posting. Its link to the QST articles is no longer valid, but they are available from the link noted above.

Let me know if there are other references you'd like to add. Comments are welcome, but are being moderated to exclude spam, so they may not be posted right away.

John

Antenna Grounding & Lightning Protection

This has been a recent topic of interest in our on-air discussions. Many good references are available for understanding this subject and for developing a design specific to your station configuration.

A very good, concise starting point is a 2-page article in the August 2006 QST, page 48, titled A Down to Earth View of Station Grounds. This article includes the following link to additional information from the ARRL Technical Information Service. Included there are links to a 3-part article series Lightning Protection for the Amateur Radio Station, published in QST in 2002, that gives detailed design methods and devices for protective grounding. This and earlier articles are available as downloadable PDF files.

Additional web links are included at the ARRL Technical Information Service page for other published articles and commercially available protection devices.

This year QST published (February & April issues) a 2-part article titled Lightning: Understand It or Suffer the Consequences. This article goes into some depth about the behavior of ground systems when exposed to lightning events.

Other links that may be of interest are:
Tower picture gallery that shows details of one ham's tower grounding design
A tutorial on NEC Article 810 – Radio and Television Equipment

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