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Perceptions Forces and Affects Components Inductance Schematics
of Oceana Radio Conclusions |
Choices and consequences of station lightning protection Safety around lightning is a measure of acceptable risks and cost/benefit. The odds of a home being struck change only slightly because it has antennas on the roof, dipoles in the trees, or even the presence of a short tower. But if you are struck, the consequences of damage and injury increase dramatically when improper or no protection is provided for personnel and equipment. This website outlays the basic knowledge, safe design and installed equipment that are employed in the lightning protection system of a US Coast Guard Auxiliary Radio Facility. This should also be relevant to the Civil Air Patrol, MARS, and Amateur Radio stations who provide emergency communications capability for public safety or the military. The presentations here assume a basic understanding of electricity and electronics. Numerous professionals were consulted and contracted in the design and completion of the system described here. The as built system meets NEC and NFPA code. Assistance was also provided by several Amateur Radio stations. See credits and links at the last page of the website. Estimated time to read the entire site: 45min-1hr. WARNING: My favorite quote by Will Rogers applies perfectly to lightning protection, and the attitudes that many people have about it. Will said: "It ain't what people don't know that bothers me. What gives me the most trouble is what they know that just ain't so". Hopefully, this work will help the reader to see how fast and far the science and engineering of lightning protection has come, and possibly where it is going. The 2004 edition of the NFPA 780 (National Fire Protection Association, Lightning Protection edition) will be in print on October 1, 2004. This is the first update since 2000, and the drafts I have read make some major changes. Where it was possible, I have included that thinking in this work. |