Base Antennas and lightening

[Roadrunner74]

Are gmrs antennas lightening magnets and if so I'm assuming they have to be grounded via a copper grounding rod??? Not that the Mojave desert gets much lightening but it sure did last week when that day long thunderstorm rolled in... made me ponder this question.

-RR

[gortex2]

Any outside antenna can get hit by lightening...

[AdmiralCochrane]

I disconnect all my raised antennae when not in use. Also disconnect power supplies.  Learned that the hard way when lightning struck a tree 50 feet from my house and antennae with everything connected.  The only radio thing damaged was an incoming power supply filter on a HF rig, disconnecting my antenna would not have saved that, but disconnecting the input power probably would have.  Open ended wires are not effective inductors, but loops/coils are, esp closed loops. 

Now I not only power down radios and power supply, I disconnect them.  Fused power strip with Anderson Power Pole plugs, I just yank them out when not in use. 

 

Next door neighbor lost 2 AC's and 2 TV's.  I also had an unused flourescent light ballast short out.  3 hours to identify the source of breaker tripping because ballast wasn't active and at the end of a circuit with a long line; embarrased that I hadn't disconnected it when it stopped working.

[Roadrunner74]

33 minutes ago, AdmiralCochrane said:

I disconnect all my raised antennae when not in use. Also disconnect power supplies.  Learned that the hard way when lightning struck a tree 50 feet from my house and antennae with everything connected.  The only radio thing damaged was an incoming power supply filter on a HF rig, disconnecting my antenna would not have saved that, but disconnecting the input power probably would have.  Open ended wires are not effective inductors, but loops/coils are, esp closed loops. 

Now I not only power down radios and power supply, I disconnect them.  Fused power strip with Anderson Power Pole plugs, I just yank them out when not in use. 

 

Next door neighbor lost 2 AC's and 2 TV's.  I also had an unused flourescent light ballast short out.  3 hours to identify the source of breaker tripping because ballast wasn't active and at the end of a circuit with a long line; embarrased that I hadn't disconnected it when it stopped working.

AC-

Good advice, I wasn't sure if a gmrs antenna would be as susceptible to lightening since the ones I've seen advertised and shrouded in PVC which I thought might help reduce the chances of a strike... I guess not.

-RR

[ShapdCrusadr]

This topic brings back a memory from the very early 1980's when I was young.

My dad was a semi driver all his life and back then we lived in a trailer. He had a CB base station with a tower and a fiberglass CB antenna. Which the antenna came in two sections with a metal couple in the middle and had a metal tip.

One night there was a nasty lightning storm. That night lightning hit the CB antenna blowing it up in little tooth pick pieces. Few days later we found the metal couple fused together and found the metal tip in the cornfield like 200 yards away.

[mbrun]

Good Day Roadrunner.

A GMRS antenna is no more a magnet for lightening than a tree, television antenna, or utility pole. However, any antenna outdoor and exterior feed-line that is not properly grounded puts your radio equipment unnecessarily at high risk. The odds of your antenna taking a direct hit is statistically very low. If ever it does take a direct hit then your antenna, feed-line and radio will be destroyed no matter how well your stuff is grounded. On the flip side, static build-up from wind and spikes from near-by lightening strikes are the most likely ones to take out your equipment. However with proper grounding the odds of damage to your internal equipment becomes incredibly low.

Through an abundance of caution some folks do disconnect there radio equipment from the feed-line during storms. I admit that I do during major electrical storms and when leaving town. For me it is easy to do so I do.

All that said I have a TV connected to an outdoor antenna that has been properly grounded for 20 years. Trees 30 yards away have taken direct hits many times yet my TV has never been affected. I attribute this to surge-suppression on the incoming power line and property grounding of the antenna and feed-line before it enters the home.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

[Roadrunner74]

22 hours ago, WRNP596 said:

This topic brings back a memory from the very early 1980's when I was young.

My dad was a semi driver all his life and back then we lived in a trailer. He had a CB base station with a tower and a fiberglass CB antenna. Which the antenna came in two sections with a metal couple in the middle and had a metal tip.

One night there was a nasty lightning storm. That night lightning hit the CB antenna blowing it up in little tooth pick pieces. Few days later we found the metal couple fused together and found the metal tip in the cornfield like 200 yards away.

That's crazy... and was probably a bit scary as well!

[ShapdCrusadr]

1 minute ago, Roadrunner74 said:

That's crazy... and was probably a bit scary as well!

You can say that.

[Roadrunner74]

22 hours ago, mbrun said:

Good Day Roadrunner.

A GMRS antenna is no more a magnet for lightening than a tree, television antenna, or utility pole. However, any antenna outdoor and exterior feed-line that is not properly grounded puts your radio equipment unnecessarily at high risk. The odds of your antenna taking a direct hit is statistically very low. If ever it does take a direct hit then your antenna, feed-line and radio will be destroyed no matter how well your stuff is grounded. On the flip side, static build-up from wind and spikes from near-by lightening strikes are the most likely ones to take out your equipment. However with proper grounding the odds of damage to your internal equipment becomes incredibly low.

Through an abundance of caution some folks do disconnect there radio equipment from the feed-line during storms. I admit that I do during major electrical storms and when leaving town. For me it is easy to do so I do.

All that said I have a TV connected to an outdoor antenna that has been properly grounded for 20 years. Trees 30 yards away have taken direct hits many times yet my TV has never been affected. I attribute this to surge-suppression on the incoming power line and property grounding of the antenna and feed-line before it enters the home.


Michael
WRHS965
KE8PLM

Michael-

Good info to know... I have yet to set up a base station but when I do I will likely do the same as you... disconnect it when out of town and definitely when a thunderstorm moves in.

-RR

[AdmiralCochrane]

I attribute some of the good luck at my place to the fact that all my antennae are grounded with 6 foot rods and my house has 2 service entrance grounds and the grounding is also connected to 2 defunct wells.  A strike about 10 years ago melted the neighbor's cable wire into carpet, impressive and I guess lucky it didn't start a fire.