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Antron 99 versus Lightning
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antron 99,rohn towers,tower,cb.cb radio,ham,ham radio,27.175,tennessee,shotgun county,how to build a tower,d 104,galaxy,moonraker 4
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This is a Antron 99 with a skirt kit that was grounded with a stranded copper wire from the mast to ground, attached to a aluminum rod. I know that was the first mistake. Hindsight is 20 20. The strike exploded the base of the Antron. Also there were several pieces of electronic equipment that were just fried. I lost a Galaxy dx hl 88, Realistic Navaho 23c,Radio Shack Pro 23 Scanner and other goodies. It shorted the back of an electrical outlet out that the CB Radio was plugged into. I also had most of the equipment on surge protectors. It even zapped the phone system and also an alarm system. For a couple weeks after the strike I discovered printers and scanners that would no longer work. So with this fresh experience I am studying the grounding system on the new tower I'm installing that you can visit at the link at the bottom of this page.
The solid copper wire internally is still in tact. There are burnt marks on the inside of Antron.
I know now that the grounding system I had intact was never sufficient in any way. But my intentions were good.
As you can see this is very large stranded copper ground wire. I sit on a flat rock and cannot gain the necessary depth either.
Another view of the damage done by wind and the direct lightning strike.
As I understand it today the guy wires were probably causing me to loose the full potential of the Antron 99. I've been told that the guys should be at least 2 feet under the skirt kit.
Here is a link to a site that explains a more proper way to ground your antenna.
http://www.signalengineering.com/ultimate/earth_ground.html
More to come!
Revised 12/18/2003
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