AMERITRON RCS-10, Instruction Manual

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Ameritron RCS-10 Instruction Manual
9
LIGHTNING PROTECTION
Proper grounding and cable routing is the single most important aspect of lightning
protection and RFI (radio frequency interference) reduction. We recommend reading
technical books or articles written by knowledgeable experts on grounding, rather than
relying on hearsay or folklore. As a general rule, anything done to improve lightning
protection also improves RF grounding and reduces unwanted RF interference.
Each piece of equipment at the operating position should connect to a common ground
point, or common ground buss.
The ground connection from the station should be made with wide smooth copper
flashing or tubing to a good earth ground.
The outside ground should be connected to the power line ground and telephone company
ground with the shortest-possible heavy conductor.
The outside ground should use multiple ground rods, and ideally should include several
buried wires to spread lightning current out over a large surface area.
All leads leaving a tower or mast should come down to ground level and exit the area of
the tower at or below ground level.
The tower or mast should be properly grounded.
The RCS-10 outdoor unit should be mounted directly to the tower or mast on grounded
tower or masts, or to a well-grounded metal post when tower mounting is not desirable or
practical.
The best protection is to disconnect antennas leads, although that is generally not
necessary with proper installation and grounding.
NOTE: Good lightning protection requires use of wide, smooth, copper flashing or
large, round, smooth conductors for ground leads. Avoid using braided or
woven conductors for ground leads, unless the lead has to be repeatedly flexed.
If you desire additional lightning protection, you can ground the “ANT 1” port of the
RCS-10 Relay Box by attaching a shorted connector. This connects the feedline center
conductor to the shield whenever power is removed, and opens all other antenna leads.
The main drawback is this reduces available antenna ports to seven. While it is
impossible to guarantee immunity from lightning damage, grounding position one will be
a large step towards that goal.