Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. Now I am not
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

On Oct 15, 11:45*am, "Dave" wrote:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. *Now I am not
sure what to do. *Anyone have any input on this topic? *Ideas are gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

Nah. Don't bother the lightning; if it strikes the antenna will go to
ground through the TV set etc. (probably blowing the sh*t out of
it!). And then find a way to the home's water supply pipe through
Grandma's vintage silverware.

More seriously: Some may remember church towers that had heavy copper
strips from ground to a spike on top of the steeple etc.
The idea being to try and discharge the high voltage of an incipient
lightning strike before an arc occurred.
Metal boat masts should be 'grounded' to the water for similar reason.

"terry" wrote in message
...
On Oct 15, 11:45 am, "Dave" wrote:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. Now I am not
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

Nah. Don't bother the lightning; if it strikes the antenna will go to
ground through the TV set etc. (probably blowing the sh*t out of
it!). And then find a way to the home's water supply pipe through
Grandma's vintage silverware.

More seriously: Some may remember church towers that had heavy copper
strips from ground to a spike on top of the steeple etc.
The idea being to try and discharge the high voltage of an incipient
lightning strike before an arc occurred.
Metal boat masts should be 'grounded' to the water for similar reason.

--

So, I should leave it grounded and not worry about it being more likely to
get struck by lightning?

Many thanks,

Dave

"Dave" wrote in
rica:

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because
lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight to
ground. Now I am not sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this
topic? Ideas are gratefully received...

Antennas should be grounded in two ways. First the mast should be grounded
and second, the cable feeding from the antenna should be grounded to a
grounding block that is wired to a ground source before entering the home.

Grounding is not only for lightning strikes. Wind blowing over the tines
creates static electrical charge that will be discharged through the ground
wire.

Larry

On Oct 15, 8:45*am, "Dave" wrote:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. *Now I am not
sure what to do. *Anyone have any input on this topic? *Ideas are gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave


That someone is wrong.

You need to ground the mast directly to a ground rod or electrical
service ground (outdoors), AND also ground the down-lead coax with a
grounding block BEFORE the drip looop and before the coax enters the
house. Use minimum of #8 wire for grounding.

The only exception to not grounding your mast is if the mast itself is
buried 4 feet or more to hold it up (ground mounted mast), so a house
mounted mast you have to ground. You always have to ground the coax
outdoors.



http://winegard.com/kbase/upload/1450089.pdf

http://winegard.com/kbase/kb_tip_res...hp?tip_num=471

http://winegard.com/kbase/kb_tip_res...hp?tip_num=398

"RickH" wrote in message
...
On Oct 15, 8:45 am, "Dave" wrote:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. Now I am not
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave


That someone is wrong.

You need to ground the mast directly to a ground rod or electrical
service ground (outdoors), AND also ground the down-lead coax with a
grounding block BEFORE the drip looop and before the coax enters the
house. Use minimum of #8 wire for grounding.

The only exception to not grounding your mast is if the mast itself is
buried 4 feet or more to hold it up (ground mounted mast), so a house
mounted mast you have to ground. You always have to ground the coax
outdoors.



http://winegard.com/kbase/upload/1450089.pdf

http://winegard.com/kbase/kb_tip_res...hp?tip_num=471

http://winegard.com/kbase/kb_tip_res...hp?tip_num=398


Wow. THANK YOU for these links. And the good, specific advice. I have the
mast grounded to an 8' copper clad ground rod driven into the earth outside
the house, but do not have the coax grounded. Will take care of that
post-haste. Many, many heartfelt thanks.

Dave

"GoHabsGo" wrote in message
3.213...
"Dave" wrote in
rica:

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because
lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight to
ground. Now I am not sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this
topic? Ideas are gratefully received...

Antennas should be grounded in two ways. First the mast should be
grounded
and second, the cable feeding from the antenna should be grounded to a
grounding block that is wired to a ground source before entering the home.

Grounding is not only for lightning strikes. Wind blowing over the tines
creates static electrical charge that will be discharged through the
ground
wire.

Larry

Hadn't even thought of this. My heartfelt thanks,

Dave

Y'know, that is interesting.

The logic seems to be that a conductive path disperses the buildup of
static, that would increase likelihood of a strike.

But also, it would seem that a tall conductive path would increase
the likelihood of a strike to a large-area charge buildup that
causes lightning.

So, do ground systems have a high resistance, to attempt to achieve
the one and not the other?

J.

"Dave" wrote in message
rica...
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. Now I am not
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are
gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

On Oct 15, 11:02*am, "zzznot" wrote:
Y'know, that is interesting.

The logic seems to be that a conductive path disperses the buildup of
static, that would increase likelihood of a strike.

But also, it would seem that a tall conductive path would increase
the likelihood of a strike to a large-area charge buildup that
causes lightning.

So, do ground systems have a high resistance, to attempt to achieve
the one and not the other?

J.

"Dave" wrote in message

rica...

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. *Now I am not
sure what to do. *Anyone have any input on this topic? *Ideas are
gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

From what I have read, for cloud-to-ground lightning, the sequence
generally goes like this. A "stepped leader" comes down from the
cloud base in a series of steps or jumps. When it gets within a
couple hundred feet of the ground, now there is kind of a target area
on the ground, maybe one or two hundred feet in diameter. Within that
area, positive charges from the ground move up and make "streamers"
from tall objects. One of the streamers eventually connects with the
stepped leader, creating a cloud-to-ground conductive path, and then
the main stroke happens. All this takes place very fast, in
milliseconds. But from this description, it seems like what you do
will not much change the chance of lightning striking the house - if
you're in the target area then you may very well get struck, but
otherwise not. -- H

On Oct 15, 6:45*am, "Dave" wrote:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. *Now I am not
sure what to do. *Anyone have any input on this topic? *Ideas are gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

This link seems to have a reasonable analysis:

http://www.weatherimagery.com/blog/l...act-lightning/

Since strikes are so rare (unless you live atop a skyscraper), it
makes it hard to do a cost-risk analysis even without the lightning
attraction issues.

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:45:10 -0500, "Dave" wrote:

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground.

AIUI, it's the other way around. During a lightning storm, a
negative** charge can build up on (or near?) the tops of buildings,
attracted by the positive** charge repeatedly building up in the sky.

**I might have these two backwards, at least for some/most of the
time.

The lightning is attacted to places with the opposite charge. The
grounding allows the antenna to reach equilibrium with the earth,
basically neutrality, so the charge and thus the attraction isn't
present, and it's LESS likely to get struck when it's grounded.

Same with lightning rods. The notion that the relatively small wires
grounding your antenna or a lightning rod are there to carry the
lightning to ground is false. They would melt in an instant if
lightning actually struck.

I"m still confused about the needles. Typical rods, last I looked,
have balls with iiuc store a charge, and needles maybe a foot long
pointing upwards. I heard a story about some farmers who would break
off the needles because they thought things were prettier that way,
but that ruins the rod.

Now I am not
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gratefully
received...

The American Radio Relay League, www.arrl.com might have stuff on
this. In the 50's and 60's the ham radio license exam included
antenna construction, but had a lot to do with how oscillators work
and other electronic internals. Based on the exam I took last year,
they are no concentrating on antenna construction, avoiding
interference with other radios, and safety. I guess because radios
are too complicated now for anyone to build one at home, unless he
just assembles a kit. So the exam used to be very hard, at least for
me as a 14 year old. This time I passed without even studying, 10%
because I remembered things I learned for the first exam, 10% because
of things I'd learned along the way, and 80% becaue it's easier.

Thanks,

Dave

GoHabsGo wrote:
"Dave" wrote in
rica:

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because
lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight to
ground. Now I am not sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this
topic? Ideas are gratefully received...

Antennas should be grounded in two ways. First the mast should be grounded
and second, the cable feeding from the antenna should be grounded to a
grounding block that is wired to a ground source before entering the home.

Grounding is not only for lightning strikes. Wind blowing over the tines
creates static electrical charge that will be discharged through the ground
wire.

Larry

The NEC (if you are in the US) requires the earthing Larry describes. It
must be to the same earthing system as the power and telephone.

A separate ground rod that is not tied to the power earthing system is a
code violation and bad idea. I wouldn't even use a rod if it is bonded
to the power earthing system. With a close strike, like to a tree, the
rod can be thousands of volts from the earthing system used for power.
That voltage shows up at TVs and anything else connected to the antenna
and power.

The earthing is not for a direct lightning strike - it is totally
inadequate. If you expect the antenna (and house systems) to survive a
direct strike you would have to use the much more elaborate protection
used by hams.

--
bud--

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:45:10 -0500, "Dave" wrote:

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. Now I am not
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

Ground it.

In addition to the other responses. A nearby lightning strike that
we all have seen will induce current that may damage the electronic
equipment hooked to the antenna.

"Dave" wrote in message
rica...
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. Now I am not
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are
gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

People used to spend lots on "lightning rods". And then, through
observation, they saw that lightning just as often hit things that didn't
have the rods on them, or never hit the rods and did hot other things. And
then think of it this way: If you put a better conductor higher up there,
aren't you putting out a sign that says "Lightning - HERE I AM!"

People have many misconceptions about lightning. One is that once it
strikes an object, it conducts through that object to the ground. That is
not true, and I have first hand experience with that. I was standing about
40' from a drilling tower. Lightning hit the tower, and ran down the side
of it to ground. How do I know? Well, for about five minutes, there was
this image burned onto my brain and eyes and whenever I closed my eyes, I
could see it plain as day. And the lightning was swirling, just like a
twisted piece of rope.

I had a lightning bolt hit a pecan tree outside my house one time. It
branched. It then hit my truck, blowing diagonal hubcaps off, then jumped
to a cow, which it killed. It also killed my dryer and tv in separate
rooms.

"Protect against lightning strikes"? You're putting up something that will
attract them. Even if you put it up on a wooden pole, the pole and wiring
will be a path of a lightning bolt. I'd take the ground wire iff'n it was
me. Isn't it already grounded where it touches the ground, or close enough
that a big bolt of lightning couldn't arc that short of a distance? If it's
on the side of the house, and the bottom is up from the ground, it can jump
that far. Remember, this bolt I had struck a green leafy pecan tree.
Doesn't sound like anything that lightning would be attracted to to me.

Steve

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:45:10 -0500, "Dave" wrote:

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against lightning
strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because lightning is
more likely to strike a path that goes straight to ground. Now I am not
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gratefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave



There are "lightning arrestors" made to be used between the antennae
and ground, but not sure about the mast (most are already grounded). I
suggest talking with your local firefighters for the safest
configuration.

On Oct 15, 12:59*pm, bud-- wrote:
GoHabsGo wrote:
"Dave" wrote in
rica:

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because
lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight to
ground. *Now I am not sure what to do. *Anyone have any input on this
topic? *Ideas are gratefully received...

Antennas should be grounded in two ways. *First the mast should be grounded *
and second, the cable feeding from the antenna should be grounded to a
grounding block that is wired to a ground source before entering the home.

Grounding is not only for lightning strikes. *Wind blowing over the tines
creates static electrical charge that will be discharged through the ground
wire.

Larry

The NEC (if you are in the US) requires the earthing Larry describes. It
must be to the same earthing system as the power and telephone.

A separate ground rod that is not tied to the power earthing system is a
code violation and bad idea. I wouldn't even use a rod if it is bonded
to the power earthing system. With a close strike, like to a tree, the
rod can be thousands of volts from the earthing system used for power.
That voltage shows up at TVs and anything else connected to the antenna
and power.

The earthing is not for a direct lightning strike - it is totally
inadequate. If you expect the antenna (and house systems) to survive a
direct strike you would have to use the much more elaborate protection
used by hams.

--
bud--- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The problem is that you never want to bring the coax into the house
unless it and the mast were grounded in some way shape or form.
Grounding them inside the house is not good. So if you dont have easy
access to the service ground (maybe service meter is way over on the
other side of house). Then in that case the ground rod is your only
choice. You would not want to run a ground wire through the house to
the other side, just to get a service ground. With that you would be
bringing the lightining into the house.

terry wrote in
:

On Oct 15, 11:45 am, "Dave" wrote:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea
because lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight
to ground. Now I am no
t
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gra
tefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave

Nah. Don't bother the lightning; if it strikes the antenna will go to
ground through the TV set etc. (probably blowing the sh*t out of
it!). And then find a way to the home's water supply pipe through
Grandma's vintage silverware.

More seriously: Some may remember church towers that had heavy copper
strips from ground to a spike on top of the steeple etc.
The idea being to try and discharge the high voltage of an incipient
lightning strike before an arc occurred.
Metal boat masts should be 'grounded' to the water for similar reason.


Church behind my house in VT took such a hit a couple of years ago when I was there.

Pics of big bang result and rebuilding on pg 72.
http://www.town.williston.vt.us/webs...rt/annrept.pdf

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news...r_N.htm?csp=34

Red Green wrote:
terry wrote in
:

On Oct 15, 11:45 am, "Dave" wrote:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea
because lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight
to ground. Now I am no
t
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gra
tefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave
Nah. Don't bother the lightning; if it strikes the antenna will go to
ground through the TV set etc. (probably blowing the sh*t out of
it!). And then find a way to the home's water supply pipe through
Grandma's vintage silverware.

More seriously: Some may remember church towers that had heavy copper
strips from ground to a spike on top of the steeple etc.
The idea being to try and discharge the high voltage of an incipient
lightning strike before an arc occurred.
Metal boat masts should be 'grounded' to the water for similar reason.


Church behind my house in VT took such a hit a couple of years ago when I was there.

Pics of big bang result and rebuilding on pg 72.
http://www.town.williston.vt.us/webs...rt/annrept.pdf

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news...r_N.htm?csp=34

So what are you supposed to do if antenna is on opposite side of house
from electric service and ground stake, and no plausible way to run a
cable between them? Yes, this is an actual question.

--
aem sends...

aemeijers wrote:
Red Green wrote:
terry wrote in
:
On Oct 15, 11:45 am, "Dave" wrote:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea
because lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight
to ground. Now I am no
t
sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this topic? Ideas are gra
tefully
received...

Thanks,

Dave
Nah. Don't bother the lightning; if it strikes the antenna will go to
ground through the TV set etc. (probably blowing the sh*t out of
it!). And then find a way to the home's water supply pipe through
Grandma's vintage silverware.

More seriously: Some may remember church towers that had heavy copper
strips from ground to a spike on top of the steeple etc.
The idea being to try and discharge the high voltage of an incipient
lightning strike before an arc occurred.
Metal boat masts should be 'grounded' to the water for similar reason.


Church behind my house in VT took such a hit a couple of years ago
when I was there.

Pics of big bang result and rebuilding on pg 72.
http://www.town.williston.vt.us/webs...rt/annrept.pdf


http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news...r_N.htm?csp=34

So what are you supposed to do if antenna is on opposite side of house
from electric service and ground stake, and no plausible way to run a
cable between them? Yes, this is an actual question.

--
aem sends...
Hi,
You can use a ground rod at the base of antenna tower. Good way of
testing quality of ground rod is try to light up a light bulb between
ground rod and hot wire from house power wiring. If the bulb lights up
bright it is good. As a ham operator my grond is 3 rods tied together in
triangular pattern. Also the holes have charcoal pieces in them.
Also it is OK to install ~2 Meg. Ohm resistor across coax leads or twin
leads to bypass static build up.

If you got struck by direct hit even good grounding is not a safe bet.
Once I had a direct hit on my super large scale IT system located in the
basement of 7 story building. It knocked off main power breaker situated
in the next room with back up M-G set, wiped out most of data from
mass storage sub-system randomly. 3 day and nights to restore the system
from back up. So my idea on lightning strike is there is no 100%
protection. In my 50 odd years of HAM operation I never suffered a
lightning damage to my equipment. I have been lucky.

RickH wrote:
On Oct 15, 12:59 pm, bud-- wrote:
GoHabsGo wrote:
"Dave" wrote in
rica:
Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because
lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight to
ground. Now I am not sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this
topic? Ideas are gratefully received...
Antennas should be grounded in two ways. First the mast should be grounded
and second, the cable feeding from the antenna should be grounded to a
grounding block that is wired to a ground source before entering the home.
Grounding is not only for lightning strikes. Wind blowing over the tines
creates static electrical charge that will be discharged through the ground
wire.
Larry
The NEC (if you are in the US) requires the earthing Larry describes. It
must be to the same earthing system as the power and telephone.

A separate ground rod that is not tied to the power earthing system is a
code violation and bad idea. I wouldn't even use a rod if it is bonded
to the power earthing system. With a close strike, like to a tree, the
rod can be thousands of volts from the earthing system used for power.
That voltage shows up at TVs and anything else connected to the antenna
and power.

The earthing is not for a direct lightning strike - it is totally
inadequate. If you expect the antenna (and house systems) to survive a
direct strike you would have to use the much more elaborate protection
used by hams.

--
bud--


- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

You guys really can't figure out this is gargbage from the retarded
google newsreader that is of no interest to anyone?


The problem is that you never want to bring the coax into the house
unless it and the mast were grounded in some way shape or form.
Grounding them inside the house is not good. So if you dont have easy
access to the service ground (maybe service meter is way over on the
other side of house). Then in that case the ground rod is your only
choice. You would not want to run a ground wire through the house to
the other side, just to get a service ground. With that you would be
bringing the lightining into the house.



An "average" lightning strike is 20,000 amps. If you have a ground rod
with a resistance of 10 ohms to earth it is a near miracle. The
lightning strike will then lift the isolated ground rod 200,000 volts
above "absolute" earth potential. (There can be arcing across the ground
surface away from the rod.) The rest of the house electrical will be
many thousands of volts from that. The coax will "be bringing lightning
into the house".

If you have lightning rods (now called air terminals), the down
conductor will be far larger than you would use on the TV antenna. An
there will probably be at least 2 of them. The earthing system of a
lightning rod system *must* be connected to the earthing system for the
building electrical. The NEC has a note referencing NFPA780, the
standard on lightning rod installations. The standard may require metal
6 feet from lightning rod conductors be bonded to the rod conductors
(for instance a rooftop A/C unit on a flat roof). There may be enough
voltage from the rod conductors to the metal to cause a side flash
across 6 feet, even with the rod and building earthing systems connected.

The provisions of the NEC for TV antennas, which are more than what is
used on some installations, are not intended to protect from a direct
lightning strike to the antenna. If you want to protect from a direct
strike find out what hams use for protection.

In gfretwell's post, a large conductor goes to the house grounding
electrode system. The house grounding system will be raised above
"absolute" earth potential, but all the wiring rises together. (That
also requires service panel suppressors (which are required by NFPA780)
and good connection to phone and cable entry protectors.)

--
bud--

On Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:26:29 -0700 (PDT), Heathcliff
wrote:

From what I have read, for cloud-to-ground lightning, the sequence
generally goes like this. A "stepped leader" comes down from the
cloud base in a series of steps or jumps. When it gets within a
couple hundred feet of the ground, now there is kind of a target area
on the ground, maybe one or two hundred feet in diameter. Within that
area, positive charges from the ground move up and make "streamers"
from tall objects. One of the streamers eventually connects with the
stepped leader, creating a cloud-to-ground conductive path, and then
the main stroke happens. All this takes place very fast, in
milliseconds. But from this description, it seems like what you do
will not much change the chance of lightning striking the house - if
you're in the target area then you may very well get struck, but
otherwise not. -- H


I believe that charge builds up on the ground over a fairly large area
in advance of even the beginning of a strike, so the question is what
kind of tall objects conduct it effectively up to where the charges in
the cloud can "see" it. Does it matter if you run a copper rod from
ground to steeple, or give it an air gap or insulator gap of an inch
or three? I wonder. My guess is, it doesn't matter much, that the
fields and charges are actually fuzzy and distributed.

Too bad someone can't figure out a way to actively attract - and
capture! - all that energy.

J.

Dave wrote:
"GoHabsGo" wrote in message
3.213...
"Dave" wrote in
rica:

Was talking with someone the other day and mentioned that I had just
grounded the TV antenna (the mast, actually) to protect against
lightning strikes, and they said that was not such a good idea because
lightning is more likely to strike a path that goes straight to
ground. Now I am not sure what to do. Anyone have any input on this
topic? Ideas are gratefully received...
Antennas should be grounded in two ways. First the mast should be
grounded
and second, the cable feeding from the antenna should be grounded to a
grounding block that is wired to a ground source before entering the home.

Grounding is not only for lightning strikes. Wind blowing over the tines
creates static electrical charge that will be discharged through the
ground
wire.

Larry

Hadn't even thought of this. My heartfelt thanks,

Dave



If you've ever listened to any sort of shortwave broadcasts on a whip
antenna, you may have heard static discharges that make a zip, zip,
zip sound through the speaker at regular intervals.

TDD