![]() ![]() This is considered a best practice for amateur radio installations as well. The cellular industry has promoted bringing the coax down to the ground level and installing a lightning arrestor bonded directly to the ground system at this point. The ground rods should be tied to the house system ground rod(s) with a minimum of #6 AWG wire. The efficacy of the ground can be improved by using wide copper straps. The grounding should be carried out with a heavy gauge conductor (minimum of #6 by NEC) leading to a ground rod. If the goal is to bleed static and minimize damage then mast should be grounded (this is also an NEC requirement). ![]() More often than not, the measures taken help minimize damage from a direct strike but more importantly they mitigate damage from near lightning strikes and static build-up. Does it matter where on the mast I connect the ground wire? Does it matter if the connection point to the mast is closer to the bottom (near the roof) or closer to the top (near the antenna connection point)?(2) Should the coax between the VHF/UHF antenna and my radio have a lightning arrester in it somewhere? If so, does it matter where in the line it is?(3) Do I need to separately connect the shield of the coax coming from the VHF/UHF antenna to the ground rod? If so, can it be connected to the household electrical ground rod or do I need to add another rod and then bind it to the existing one?(4) Should there be a separate ground wire running from one of the ground rods into my radio room and then connecting to my radio equipment in the room?(5) I'd like to make some type of a window/coax feed-through.The typical amateur radio / SWL budget will rarely allow for sufficient protection from a direct lightning strike. It is not grounded in any way.There is a window in the computer/radio room and it is almost directly above the electrical grounding rod for the house.My first round of questions are as follows:(1) I'm sure that I should ground the mast that my new VHF/UHF antenna will be mounted on. ![]() It is unremarkable and lacking in performance. In case it matters, I currently have a G5RV Jr (obviously not for VHF/UHF) running from my house to a pole in the backyard. ![]()
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January 2023
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