Amateur Radio Antenna Lightning Protection

[@seeharvester]

I was tearing down a fence, and pulled up one of the 4x4 posts in concrete and 2 snakes came out. A shovel dispatched them posthaste. Eastern NC.

[@seeharvester]

Also, I'm a retired bricklayer, and you did fine with the drilling. You could have drilled into the brick as well, but the brick are "cored", meaning they have holes in them ; they're not solid. For your application it wouldn't have really mattered either way, except a hammer drill does have the possibility of fracturing the brick. The only risk drilling into the mortar is you might hit a wall tie (corrugated metal strap), but that is highly unlikely. That particular brick is called "scratch face" and probably has 10 holes in it. BTW, whenever we had to tear down brickwork for one reason or another, it was usually the brick that broke before the mortar.

[@bblod4896]

Good job. I used a double wide aluminum outdoor weather proof box. The ground rod is next to the box and I ran 4 gauge wire from the rod to the box. The BR400 cable is grounded in the box. The equipment should be safe from a non-direct hit, BUT, nothing will save the shack from a direct hit except disconnecting the antenna feeds. The antenna masts are also grounded with their own rods.

[@gamerguy247365]

I like your ground bar Does the coax couplings being grounded to the box cause any interference?

[@slshock]

When you disconnect the antenna side of the coax, you need to be able to "ground" that end of the coax and not just leave it hanging. You can accomplish this by installing SO-239 connectors to the side of the box with the shield and center conductor wired to your flat ground strap. They make SO-239 weather caps that screw onto the connector when the PL-259 is not connected to it.

[@lomgshorts3]

Really good ideas here! Try hydro drilling the grounding pipe (3/4") 8' or 10' long and fill the hole around the pipe with bentonite (usually found cheaply in cat litter) or copper sulfate (found at the local feed and garden store) to increase ground conductivity and pack the remaining soil around the pipe. The pipe will be a great heat sink, so you might use a Mapp gas torch to solder the grounding braid to the pipe. Bring the ground strap in low to the floor to your ground buss (I just pounded a 1" copper pipe flat with threaded holes drilled into it). Bring your coaxes in the same way so that the lightning charge has every chance to go to ground before entering your shack. You also could install a whole house surge protector inside the main power breaker box, too. I have used this for 20+ years, no lost equipment or destroyed wiring at all.

[@IamDerick]

Thanks for the video it helped me compile a list of stuff for my station. I have ignored this aspect for far too long. 73 de K7TIE

[@pboone1231]

Keep up the series of HAM radio videos. I have a HAM radio although I'm not licensed so I can't transmit - but I do enjoy listening. I plan to get my ticket sometime this year.

[@RockyMTHirvi]

A good idea. You can skip talk about snakes, lizard, rodents....

[@RayBecker]

good stuff. long time no see. how you dooin

[@johnlord8337]

In hurricane or tornado/cyclone/thunder and lightning storm situations - with high atmospheric energies ... the ancestors did the best approach. Like the old houses on the East Coast (one I saw at an abandoned house inside a maple forest near Quantico, Virginia), run a long 2 inch wide copper braid or metallic < stripping along the apex of the roof (and insulated by separation), welded with braid on the roof edges, and then down all 4 corners of the house, and attached to 4 separate 6 ft copper grounding rods. These rods are 20+ feet away from your ham radio (same copper braid and) grounding rod. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6u6dqZniJ6WfJY&feature=em-uploademail East Coast/South experiences the highest concentration of lightning strikes in the continental U.S.

[@edieboudreau9637]

Unpack a box a week. If not sure where to put list what's left inside on outside of box. Cross off as removed. Welcome to the south. Lizards snakes black widows & wolf spiders. Bang everything before opening or spray with insecticide is the traditional method of dealing in country areas.

[@edieboudreau9637]

Check the shelf

[@glenmartin2437]

Thanks for the vid.

[@edieboudreau9637]

You didn't put pics in right place. Too soon.