Just connecting stuff for the sake of bonding is always a good thing. Doing a PANI style common point ground is a good thing. Lightning damage is unpredictable, so no one set of rules or methods will always work. Lightning can be modeled as a high number of sine waves and some of your cables and tower elements will form quarter wave transmission lines to certain elements of that energy thus not conducting it.
Every strike has a different frequency distribution. Lots of things out there on the internet, but most of it is pontificating from the point of view of an engineer. In my opinion the only advise worth reading comes from those that have spend decades installing and maintaining gear on mountain tops and high lightning areas. Best if they are the owners of the gear. And even those opinions are not totally good for you if they are from a different part of the country. Lightning protection in Florida is different than in Utah. From: Faisal Imtiaz Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 8:28 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [AFMUG] CAT5e/6 tower grounding There is a reason for grounding anything ... Just connecting stuff for the sake of connecting to ground is not a good thing, actually is a bad thing. There is a reason why the outer core/conductor shield of LMR cable is connected to the ground using the kits being described, and typically that reason does not apply to the doing the same with Shielded Ethernet cable. I would strongly suggest that folks try to gain an understanding on what they are doing and why they are doing it, rather than hey I see him do this so I am going to do it as well... :) There are a number of great documents that address what to do and why to do so.... one such article was / is done by Chris S of Netonix ( posted in the netonix forums), pretty comprehensive, and done with adequate explanations. Regards. Faisal Imtiaz Snappy Internet & Telecom 7266 SW 48 Street Miami, FL 33155 Tel: 305 663 5518 x 232 Help-desk: (305)663-5518 Option 2 or Email: [email protected] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Adam Moffett" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 10:18:51 AM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] CAT5e/6 tower grounding I've never tried those ground kits in real life. I'm assuming you wouldn't use them on a foil shielded cable but rather one with armor. I don't think I would do it unless the tower owner made me do it. Even where I was told it had to be R56 the guy doing the inspection was happy with an SS at the bottom for the Ethernet. ------ Original Message ------ From: "That One Guy /sarcasm" <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Sent: 11/22/2016 8:17:26 PM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] CAT5e/6 tower grounding On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 7:14 PM, Chuck McCown <[email protected]> wrote: Lots of opinions about this. R56 doesn't really apply too well to things that are Ethernet and POE. Try to bring all grounds back to a single point. Bond things together like the ice bridge to the tower so you are not counting on the mechanical connection to also be the lightning circuit. People using my products use the grounding RJ45 plugs which interconnect to my surge protectors. You never know which direction the surge will be coming from either. Many times it comes in on the power. -----Original Message----- From: Dev Sent: Tuesday, November 22, 2016 5:54 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [AFMUG] CAT5e/6 tower grounding I’ve heard it’s good to ground multiple places, like up by the radio, down by the turn to the ice bridge and inside the shelter, but how do you that (and is it necessary) with CAT5e/6? Do you strip a section off the insulation and tie the drain wire to multiple ground lugs? Sounds hard to do and not get water in the cable. I just have been running surge suppressors inside the building that the cable plugs into before heading to the switches/etc. What should I be doing? -- If you only see yourself as part of the team but you don't see your team as part of yourself you have already failed as part of the team.
