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Default Grounding TV antenna tower

What is the proper and best way of grounding a tv antenna at the top of
a 40' tower? I have a cottage on lake huron, and the tower is going to
be the highest metal point for quite a few hundred feet. I am
concerned about damage when lightning hits the tower or antenna. Also-
Should a grounding jumper be run around the rotator to ground the
antenna and mast? Thanks

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Default Grounding TV antenna tower


Ahh..... remembering days of my youth,,,,,,

ok, go to http://www.arrl.org/

We all learned about towers, big arrays, et. al.
You need lightning protection and other things that will protect your
property....
They all do work, given the antenna farm I had for years,,,,,,,


--Paul
WA1VPY....




wrote:
What is the proper and best way of grounding a tv antenna at the top of
a 40' tower? I have a cottage on lake huron, and the tower is going to
be the highest metal point for quite a few hundred feet. I am
concerned about damage when lightning hits the tower or antenna. Also-
Should a grounding jumper be run around the rotator to ground the
antenna and mast? Thanks


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Default Grounding TV antenna tower


Ahh..... remembering days of my youth,,,,,,

ok, go to http://www.arrl.org/

We all learned about towers, big arrays, et. al.
You need lightning protection and other things that will protect your
property....
They all do work, given the antenna farm I had for years,,,,,,,


--Paul
WA1VPY....




wrote:
What is the proper and best way of grounding a tv antenna at the top of
a 40' tower? I have a cottage on lake huron, and the tower is going to
be the highest metal point for quite a few hundred feet. I am
concerned about damage when lightning hits the tower or antenna. Also-
Should a grounding jumper be run around the rotator to ground the
antenna and mast? Thanks


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Default Grounding TV antenna tower

How would one make any part of the tower higher than the antenna? When
a rotor is used, which I need to use due to the distance involved,
there is no feasable way of having any rod stick higher than the
antenna. Also, if grounding the tower makes it more attractive to
lightning, why are tv antennas on roof tripods usually grounded? Thanks

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PipeDown
 
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Default Grounding TV antenna tower


"MC" wrote in message
...
dnoyeB wrote:
wrote:

What is the proper and best way of grounding a tv antenna at the top of
a 40' tower? I have a cottage on lake huron, and the tower is going to
be the highest metal point for quite a few hundred feet. I am
concerned about damage when lightning hits the tower or antenna. Also-
Should a grounding jumper be run around the rotator to ground the
antenna and mast? Thanks


grounding the tower will just make it more attractive to lightning.
However, it will protect you since the lightning will enter the ground
and not the house.

You probably need a lightning rod or something to attract or disipate the
lightning, which will also be grounded.

should have the antenna part lower than the highest point of the grounded
tower with lightning rod on top of tower and sufficient ground cable to
sink the current into the ground (there is a formula, can not remember)

The antenna is shielded due to an umbrella effect of the higher point of
the lightning rod.


My gosh, such misinformation.

An antenna still has a good chance of getting hit by lightning directly even
if there is a lightning rod nearby. Lightning is random by nature.

The tower is already grounded by virtue of it probably being bolted to a
concrete pad at ground level and being made of metal. Grounding it more will
not increase the electric field at the top.

Ground wire for the antenna provides a lower impedance path to ground which
the majority of the current will follow. A direct strike can still send
current through other paths. Sufficient sizing of the ground wire will
minimize the current in these paths. This obvoiusly allows you to control
where that current flows instead of leaving it to nature at the base of the
antenna.

All you need is a spark gap, a ground wire and a ground rod. The basic
diagram is included with the instruction manual of every consumer
electronics equipment that connects to an antenna like a TV or VCR for many
years. There are also off the shelf grounding kits anywhere they sell
antennas, complete with instructions (you may have to buy a seperate
grounding rod)

Grounding of all the splitters (particularly the first one) adds a measure
of additional protection for you and your equipment. You can ground the
shield of the cable anywhere you want, the center conductor is floating (WRT
DC current) and connected mainly to the transformer windings in the
splitters with no actual (DC) direct path between the antenna and the TV.
Current in lightning will fuse this path open in a flash, most current will
enter the house via the shield which may be DC connected to the antenna.



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PipeDown
 
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Default Grounding TV antenna tower


"dnoyeB" wrote in message
news
wrote:
How would one make any part of the tower higher than the antenna? When
a rotor is used, which I need to use due to the distance involved,
there is no feasable way of having any rod stick higher than the
antenna. Also, if grounding the tower makes it more attractive to
lightning, why are tv antennas on roof tripods usually grounded? Thanks


Like I said because if lightning does strike you want it to seek ground by
following a path OUTSIDE of your house. Without grounding the antenna
properly through a path outside of yoru house, if lightning does strike
it, it will ground itself through a path within your house which may
significantly more hazardous to your health.


Use a dedicated grounding rod. do not connect to your safety ground (third
prong on the receptacles). You can connect to the house ground only at the
grounding rod, not anywhere before.


grounding the tower can also make it less likely to endure a direct blast
if it is able to dissipate enough energy before it can build up. A
lightning rods true purpose is to leak energy to prevent the massive burst
of energy that comes with a direct strike.


True purpose is to provide a lower resistance path to ground than would
otherwise be found


As for making the tower higher than the antenna, you gotta do what you
gotta do...

--


The lightning rod is unnessary, simply ground the antenna via a spark gap
and the shield of the antenna cable.


Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes
9:16





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Default Grounding TV antenna tower

A lightning rod higher than the tower is ideally connected to a large
copper cable properly grounded with multiple ground rods driven 8 feet
or more into the ground, for everyones safety this groumd must be
connected to the main house ground, at the service entrance, which must
be bonmded to the homes plumbing system and if you have city water the
meter must have a jumper in case its removed for some reason.

multiple grounds that arent bonded together can kill or cause a fire

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Andy
 
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Default Grounding TV antenna tower

Andy comments:

In addition, I would ground the coax outer shield conductor to the
tower ,
which should have a ground to earth SEPARATE from the concrete
mounting block.....
This will have NO effect on the signal inside the coax, and in the
event of
a lightning strike, the center conductor, if hit, will arc to the coax
shield
anyway...... A lighning arrestor wouldn't hurt, tho... It will help to

protect your inside equipment, tho the results are unpredictable....

Andy W4OAH

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w_tom
 
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Default Grounding TV antenna tower

Lightning wants earth ground. It will take a destructive path
through rotor, pre-amp, or receiver IF you don't provide an
electrically shorter path. One technique involves a lightning rod above
the antenna and connected to earth. Another puts electrical bypasses
around things such as the rotor. There is no way to stop or block
lightning. For example, any post that suggests fuses for protection
means basic concepts - as even demonstrated by Franklin in 1752 - were
not learned. There is nothing (ie a fuse) that will stop or block such
transients. And yet that is how so many ineffective surge protectors
are promoted.

Most essential to protecting a tower, et al is earth ground. The
system component little seen is THE most critical component of a tower
protection system. An industry professional demonstrates the concept.
In this case, tower and building are treated as separate structures;
each must have its own single point earthing. Any connection to either
structure must first connect to its single point ground. To make both
structure's earth ground even better, both earth grounds are
interconnected:
http://www.erico.com/public/library/...es/tncr002.pdf

Having first established this most critical 'system' component, we
then move up the tower to bypass anything that may be damaged when
lightning makes an electrical connection to earth. Bypass so that
lightning will see that earth ground by a non-destructive path.

Same principle used on the tower must also be used in a building.
That means connection from tower to building must connect (every wire
in every cable) short to the building's single point earth ground
before entering building. This connection made by hardwire (ie coax
cable) or via an arrestor. Notice what an arrestor does not
accomplish. It does not provide protection. A arrestor's function is
simply to make an electrical connection short to earth. Note the
repeated reference 'short'. All incoming wires (from tower, AC
electric, phone) must enter at a common service entrance so that all
are earthed short to same single point earth ground.

Another has demonstrated the concept:
http://www.knology.net/~res0958z/

Earthing does not make your location more attractive. If lightning
needs that connection to earth, then lightning is going to strike. So
which electrical path do you want lightning too take? Franklin
demonstrated it in 1752. Lightning sought a conductive material to
earth ground - wooden church steeple. Notice how non-conductive
materials are now considered conductive. Franklin provided lightning
with an electrically shorter path to earth. His lightning rod was only
as effective as its earth ground. Your protection does same thing as
demonstrated in the above URLs.

wrote:
How would one make any part of the tower higher than the antenna? When
a rotor is used, which I need to use due to the distance involved,
there is no feasable way of having any rod stick higher than the
antenna. Also, if grounding the tower makes it more attractive to
lightning, why are tv antennas on roof tripods usually grounded? Thanks


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