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Wartrace
join:2009-03-07
Wartrace, TN

Wartrace

Member

Lightning protection?

What is the best lightning protection for my antenna/amp? I have a omni directional antenna set up on a pole outside, it is connected to a cyfre amp. Will the map power cord ground it ok? I always disconnect the modem side during thunderstorms so would any strike go through the amp power?

Any suggestions of what to do during a storm?

xrayman
join:2008-12-09
Kansas City

xrayman

Member

said by Wartrace:

What is the best lightning protection...

i disconnect everything when a storm is on the way in. The modem and router are mounted in a metal box with a tight fitting lid. I just disconnect and close up the top, electromagnetic pulse protection also.
logistiker
join:2013-05-29

logistiker to Wartrace

Member

to Wartrace
Lightning struck a tree in the front of my house recently and sent a surge through the telephone line and the cellular directional antenna wire mounted to the mast on my roof. The surge went through the cyfre amp (unharmed) and fried the cyfre amp power supply, the router that I had the modem plugged into (router has usb ports for wan), the 8 port switch plugged into the same area as the amplifier and a few ethernet jacks on computers plugged into the 8 port switch and the base station for my cordless phone.

So YES, you must protect your equipment. A direct strike to your house will fry anything that is plugged in anywhere. So short of unplugging everything in a storm, it's useless to protect against. If you have a nearby strike like in my case and you have your equipment plugged in, then you need surge protection on any cable that enters the house.

In your case, you need a surge protector between the antenna and the cyfre amp. That surge protector needs to be grounded. The same is true if you have a TV antenna or Satellite dish. In that case, you would use a ground block to ground the RG6 cable between the antenna or satellite dish and your distribution point (splitter/distribution amp). Wilson sells a surge protector for cellular antennas which works for me albeit, I haven't had a nearby strike since I just installed it:

»www.rakuten.com/prod/wil ··· 184.html

You should run a 10awg ground wire from the surge suppressor to the house ground. I just grounded mine in the main electrical breaker box inside (I have more than one main box). You can also ground directly to the ground rod. Just don't install an additional ground rod for it since it's not necessary and would create a ground loop if you didn't bond them.

Some people say it's best to run the ground wire directly to the ground rod because a direct strike by lightning could enter the house if your ground wire enters the house but that's not the point of the ground wire. It is to pull static electricity build up away from the antenna making it less of a target for lightning and it is to provide a path for a surge (nearby strike) to the ground instead of through your devices.

If you're wondering if surge suppressors work, I can assure you they do because I had a GE whole house surge protector on the outside breaker box. I'm positive the lightning tried to send a surge into my house because it blew the main power coming from the electric coop and I was without power for about 20 minutes. Not a single electric appliance (excluding the devices mentioned above since they were harmed by the surge coming in on other cables) was harmed that was plugged in.