With spring around the corner (in the northern hemisphere), the thoughts of
[mentally] young hams turn to lightning. Two schools of thought on this:
the professional Polyphasor type method (single point gnd.; perimeter gnd.;
etc.) and the "Disconnect everything" method. To the gurus on the
reflector: If I follow the DE method, does that include a quick disconnect
on the cable going out of the shack to the ground rods? This was asked a
few months ago by someone. There were two responses: 1. yes; (to
paraphrase:) a guy I know had a near strike & a surface ground surge
travelled from his ant. to his shack ground rods & entered his shack & fried
everything (I may not have the facts exactly right but that was the idea).
2. No; (paraphrasing again) once the strike energy is in the ground it
stays there; don't worry about your shack ground as an entry path but
disconnect everything else. Which is it? I'm wondering if I should hacksaw
through the copper cable from the shack to my 5 rods outside and put in
something like a pair of locking pliars to allow for the quick disconnect
from the rods when a storm approaches. Perhaps it's not that big of a deal.
Have ground at the ant. mast, disconnect at the antenna for the feed,
disconnects on everything inside (except the shack ground) but no s.p.
entrance ground or perimeter gnd.
Thanks & 73,
Rob Atkinson
K5UJ
k5uj@hotmail.com
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