Lewis is correct as I follow the R56 on every site I work with and it
has reduced our time on site for damaged down to nothing. I have the
very same ground clamp meter and it is what I use to check every site I
come to especially if its one
I havent touched or seen a while.
It feels good when u see that .5 ohm show on the meter. I do my best to
get the site to meet that measurement but sometimes about 1 ohm is the
best on a few older sites pre-r56 I can get.
Also, A thing to note is anything Metallic exposed above ground has the
potential of getting nailed. So, if its not grounded back to main earth
it raises the level of potential hit. We have installed the stars and
spikes on a few sites
and if your lucky enough to be close enough to a site when a heavy dark
cloud passes over you will see the glow on the tips. The idea is to
reduce the amount of concentrated energy on a single point of contact.
By having many tiny points
the energy will be evenly discharge at a minimal level.
By looking at how lightning is formed and how it is not directional
but spherical in nature we can define zones of effective destruction on
a building or site.
Yes, by using the air gap or separation of current to the equipment you
can increase your chances of not losing a single radio on the tower. It
just another tool in the box outside of surge blocking/protection that
can be used to mitigate the death
of a $9000.00 radio.
On 5/23/19 9:30 AM, Ken Hohhof wrote:
I see stuff on the Internet saying the “cone of protection” is a myth,
but empirically it has worked for me.
If an omni antenna is the highest thing on a tower or grain elevator,
it’s gonna get hit. Lots. Ouch.
If there is even just a plain metal pipe that sticks up higher than
any antennas so they are under the “cone of protection”, the
probability of damage is greatly reduced or eliminated. I assume it’s
a combination of bleeding off charge to avoid strikes, and giving it
something else to strike rather than your equipment.
*From:* AF <[email protected]> *On Behalf Of *Lewis Bergman
*Sent:* Thursday, May 23, 2019 9:00 AM
*To:* AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]>
*Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Fw: Active Lightning Suppressor - Snake Oil, or
Science?
R56 is a standard developed by Motorola for critical communications
sites. Chuck can likely point you to a similiar standard developed by
NEC or some Telco consortium that defines grounding standards for
telco facilities. Half the standards are usually about human safety
and the other half are about equipment safety.
The bottom line is, if you can get your site to less than 5 Ohms earth
resistance to ground you are about as good as you can hope for. Lower
is better but below 5 Ohms the return on investment diminshes rapidly.
I think the lowest I have seen is 0.5 Ohms on a brand new site. We put
a lot of grounding, enhancemnet material, etc. But it is like good
insurance and it does work. We had an old tower that had poor
grounding. We retrofitted it with a modern system and lowered the
number of strikes from an average of 15 or so a year to 1 in 3 years.
You can use a device like this: Clamp on ground tester
<http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/AEMC/ground-resistance-testers/clamp-on/clamp-on-ground-resistance-tester-6416.htm?ref=gbase&gclid=CjwKCAjwiZnnBRBQEiwAcWKfYi9_sp7BYOU7SUh8oCsy0VRd-Sm9Kx05ShpV-11tT_xAboQ4UAY5GxoClmgQAvD_BwE> to
easily measure the resistance of a whole site. You do have to know
where and how to use it. To accurately measure parts of a grounding
system accurately you have to know how it is designed. Most of the
time a zer resistance reading means you are measuring a loop of
copper. I laugh every time I go to a cell site and they have a ground
test pound that is basically a loop on top of a ground rod. Yaeh, no
wonder they passed the test.
On Wed, May 22, 2019 at 9:32 PM Chuck McCown <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Google “Air Terminal Lightning” and then click on images.
Or just check out some of these:
https://www.erico.com/category.asp?category=R2438
https://www.jjengineersindia.com/lightning-protection-system.html
https://www.jmvearthing.com/early-streamer-emmission.html
This one has some snake oil type of hype too:
http://www.lps-pacifica.com/Ellips.html
Ever read “Something Wicked This Way Comes”?
*From:*Matt Hoppes
*Sent:*Wednesday, May 22, 2019 7:16 PM
*To:*AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group
*Subject:*Re: [AFMUG] Fw: Active Lightning Suppressor - Snake Oil,
or Science?
So if this is all snake oil - why do some commercial towers have
some variation of this at the top?
That’s what I’m trying to understand.
An engineer for clear channel told me he’s seen a corona develop
around one of his towers that had a similar item on it when storms
are coming through the area.
On May 22, 2019, at 2:56 PM, Bill Prince <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
My SO is unusually wary of lightning and lightning strikes. If
there is the slightest hint of lightning or thunder, she
reverts to the air gap method of lightning protection. If
there are no wires connected to a piece of electronics, then
it is most safe.
Doesn't help a lot in our business, but that is what she does.
bp
<part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com>
On 5/22/2019 11:51 AM, Matt Hoppes wrote:
Are you suggesting that if you power off the equipment
during a lightning strike it won’t take damage? Why would
that be?
On May 22, 2019, at 2:42 PM, dave <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
I have been working with this AS3935 franklin
lightning sensor for about 6 months now and learned so
much more about lighting and its projected energies
and possible frequencies its amazing how this little
sensor can detect distance and the amount of energy
BEFORE it strikes.
So,armed with this ability I am solely working on a
design along with IR sensing to help mitigate damage
to a site during a storm.
I am still working on the timing to be able to shut
down power to the gear outside for a time period at
which if lightning is still present remain off till
storm passes.
End of Run sites are the worst but knock on wood after
a year or 2 of planning and cleaning up the existing
grounds everything seems well.
<Vcard.jpg>
On 5/22/19 9:23 AM, [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]> wrote:
This is from the executive director of the
lightning protection institute.
-----Original Message----- From: Bud VanSickle
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 7:41 AM
To: 'Chuck McCown'
Subject: RE: [AFMUG] Active Lightning Suppressor -
Snake Oil, or Science?
Snake oil for sure. You can't stop lightning
strikes because of the volume
of energy and short time period. If you put one
of these devices on a fully
grounded metallic tower, it would most likely take
a strike to ground. Of
course, if you ground your metallic tower
properly, it is like a giant
lightning rod, so you are out the money for this
"topper". By the way, on
tall towers, lightning doesn't necessarily strike
the top anyway - it is
almost never straight vertical and may be at a 45
degree angle to the side.
But let me ask you this - if all the pine needles
in a forest can release
ions (which they can and do) or all the blades of
grass on the prairie, why
does lightning still strike there?
Bud VanSickle
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck McCown [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 7:51 AM
To: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Subject: Fw: [AFMUG] Active Lightning Suppressor -
Snake Oil, or Science?
I think snake oil. You?
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