Mickey:
All of my 10 or so runs of LMR-400 are grounded at the top of my crankup.
Although the sections are indeed suspended by the wire rope and sheaves, the
reality is that at least one, and usually two, of the legs are in contact
with each other between sections.
I don't have the coax grounded at the base of the tower as it's only about
12' to the NEMA box on the side of the shack with the Polyphaser and ICE
units in it.
I average a direct strike about every 18 months and so far so good.
Doug
K4AC
Running for ARRL SE Division Director
Campaign Website: www.k4ac.com
Campaign Blog: www.k4ac.net
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:towertalk-
> bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Mickey Baker
> Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2010 2:10 PM
> To: towertalk@contesting.com
> Subject: [TowerTalk] Lightning Protection - Telescoping Towers
>
> As I move glacially forward with my telescoping tower installation, I'm
> going to ground all coax shields at the base of the tower.
>
> I wonder, however, about the wisdom of grounding coax at the top of a
> telescoping tower. The "path to ground" of the top section of a
telescoping
> tower is convoluted - through the mechanical cabling and pulleys and the
> sporadic mechanical contact of the sections of the tower itself, so the
> value of bonding coax shields to the top section is questionable in my
mind.
>
> What are the thoughts on grounding coax at the top of a telescoping tower?
>
> --
> Mickey Baker
> Fort Lauderdale, FL
> "Tell me, and I will listen. Show me, and I will understand. Involve me,
and
> I will learn." Teton Lakota, American Indian Saying.
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