605-0001-801 FlexNET Link Products
Lightning Protection
Airspan’s surge arrestor MOB00208 can protect the radio units of a base station from damage
due to a lightning strike. Statistically a lightning strikes to the highest electrical conductor in an
area and then follows the lowest resistance and shortest path to ground. Since antennas are
usually mounted in high places, they are very susceptible to lightning strikes. Therefore, the
antenna location and the way how it has been mounted is the major point when discussed about
the lightning protection.
Airspan recommends you not to mount your antennas on the highest building or tower
and place them always at least a few feet below the top of the mast. Furthermore, the
mast should be grounded by using a thick enough grounding cable.
Protection of the radio unit can be provided by installing a surge arrestor following the antenna
connector. Surge arrestor MOB00208 uses a gas discharge tube to protect electrical equipment
from lightning surges, which means that the tube must be replaced after a strike. Because the
surge arrestor will not inform the user that it is going to a short circuit some repetitive
maintenance is required.
It is also important that the surge arrestor is grounded with a grounding cable. This
is needed to conduct the lightning bolt energy straight to the ground instead of the
radio unit. The shorter the wire is the better result is achieved.
The following figure demonstrates how to install the surge arrestor MOB00208 correctly.
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Summary of Contents for FlexNET ASN-700
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