Not really. We use a smaller gauge copper for the omni. The cheapo ground rod is about a foot away from everything else.
It was my first tower. Given what I know now I would do things quite differently, but the copper on the omni and the ground rod seemed to have worked. There were dozens of threads about the diversity chip blowing on various cards. I've only ever lost one. Even when lightning hit it went up the tower, it did not hit the tower itself. ----- Original Message ----- From: Lewis Bergman To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 5:37 PM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] Static & Nearby Lightning Issues Do you notice any change in pattern of the antenna? That really should influence the pattern I would think. Maybe Chuck will chime in. On Jun 3, 2015 5:33 PM, "Glen Waldrop" <[email protected]> wrote: On my first tower we ran a 10ft section of conduit at the top as lightning rod with a number 4 or 6 copper wire from the ground rod all the way to the top. It is the highest point on my tower. The only time lightning has been an issue here it hit a tree nearby and came in through the buried cable. We also have a piece of copper wire run up the side of each omni sticking about 3 inches above the top. ----- Original Message ----- From: Edward Brooks To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 5:24 PM Subject: [AFMUG] Static & Nearby Lightning Issues Here goes... We have a new 118' Super Titan Max tower that has been grounded per manufacturers recommendations. Each leg is physically bonded (not exothermically) to a 10' ground rod, all ground rods are then connected to each other in a ring. The equipment cabinet is bonded to an 8' ground rod and tied into the meter base grounding as well. The two ground rings are then bonded to each other in 2 separate places. With that said our issue has not been with the grounding, but with the dissipation of static at the height of the antennas. We currently have had the worst problems with the 3 Cyclone 2.4 antennas which are currently located on masts at the top of the tower. We have also had issues with a couple of the 5.7 Cyclones located below the top of the tower, but not as frequently. The center-line of the 2.4 APs is 120' AGL, the height of the tower is 118' AGL. We currently have WB-GigE-APC surge arrestors located in the cabinet which is located 10 ft from the base of the tower. After doing some research through various Cambium manuals and the Motorola R56 manual, I have some idea what our issue is, but would like to bounce those ideas off the community. My thought is that we neglected to put surge arrestors at 50' to 75' intervals (as recommended by the Motorola R56 manual) and 1 at the top for use in thunderstorm areas. Also we may need to lower the APs to a minimum of 2ft below the top of the tower (per the Cambium manuals for various antenna types). Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. What have you done to mitigate this problem? Etc... Thanks, -Ed -- Edward Brooks Outside Plant Manager The Montana Internet Corporation 406-443-3347 X506 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com
