Lightening strike arrester

[patrick[mi]]

I'm a new cb'er and have purchased a lightening strike arrester that connects inline on the antenna coax. It has two screws in the side for hookup somewhere and that is my question. Where do each of these screws connect to and does it matter which one goes where? I thought maybe one goes to chassis ground and the other to the radio but not sure. If that is correct which one goes where?
Thanks in advance to all who reply,
Patrick

[Tinman590]

The other would go to a earth ground like a 8 ft copper rod drove in the ground

[PONY EXPRESS]

its use is for a hookup outside and 1 side goes to a earth ground rod the otehr side to your coax. Another coax should run from the arrestor to your radio.

During storm season I unhook that coax coming inside from the arrestor and then hook coax back up when storms are gone ...

['Doc]

And to make all this just a little more 'fun', the 'spark-gap' type lightning arrestors are almost totally useless. They do not work fast enough. By the time the current from the strike has built enough to jump that gap, it's already in your radio doing whatever damage it's going to do. The 'gas-capsule' type arrestors are slightly better than the 'spark-gap' type, but they still take time to operate, and still let some of that lightning get through.
So what's the best lightning arrestor? The same kind that commercial broadcast stations use, a direct path to ground through an inductive type arrestor (a coil). That's also probably the hardest type to find/make because that 'coil' has to be the right size, which changes with frequency. One size does NOT fit all. That 'size' thingy means physical size along with the amount of inductance of the coil. It also pertains to the size of that ground wire. There's a humongus amount of voltage/current in a lightning strike, #26 wire just ain't gonna work, you know?
It ain't never simple, is it?
- 'Doc

[linx]

This is a great thread...and something I feel is overlooked often.

Pony Express hit the nail on the head. Lightning arrestors or not, it's best to unplug your equipment while not in use, especially in storm season.

However, I do have lightning arrestors on my setup. I have 1 PolyPhaser and 3 ICE arrestors. I bought the PolyPhaser when I was running a single coax, but now that I'm running more, I had to buy more. The ICE brand has a great name ([Please login or register to view this link]), and is a similar design to the PolyPhaser, but a lot cheaper. I also have one on my rotor box. I got ahold of a new Comcast box, and inside the box I installed a sheet of plywood, then on top of the plywood I installed a piece of copper sheet metal. I screwed the arrestors to that copper board. Then I ran my 8 ft ground to the copper board. I also ran extra copper wire to each arrestor just to make sure. It's all 100% enclosed and at the base of my tower in case I have to work on any of it. I'll get some pics of the box if you need some ideas on what you can do.

SO, you're asking "Why would he spend all the money on arrestors and still unplug his coax?!", well, you would be highly surprised how much static electricity is in the air, and can go through your feed line (coax or rotor wire). I put my arrestors in line to prevent static electricity from running back into my radio. The radio I'm using is a Kenwood, and I wanted to protect it from high voltage.

I agree with doc, the little cheap air gap, and gas charge ones are junk and will not work....they kind of remind me a cheap low pass filter. Seems like a gimmick.

[Circuit Breaker]

SO, you're asking "Why would he spend all the money on arrestors and still unplug his coax?!", well, you would be highly surprised how much static electricity is in the air, and can go through your feed line (coax or rotor wire). I put my arrestors in line to prevent static electricity from running back into my radio. The radio I'm using is a Kenwood, and I wanted to protect it from high voltage.

Yep, you can have all those grounds and arrestors but none of it will protect you from a direct hit.

[patrick[mi]]

Wow thanks for all the great info. However I purchased this little do dad to install in line in my truck. LOL I don't have a base station yet.
Could I/should I, install it in my truck? If not what is the best idea if I'm driving across country and encounter a lightening storm? Is it sufficient to just shut off the radio?
Patrick

['Doc]

I think you would know better than I would, but I can't remember ever hearing of a truck being struck by lightning. I've never considered lightning a biggy for a mobile. That doesn't mean it couldn't be, but I've never had a problem in that regard. I wouldn't use that arrestor. I also think that if struck by lightning, that radio would be one of the last things I'd be worried about !
I have had one problem dealing with a radio that was blamed on lightning. I honestly thing that was one of those "get out of it" type warranty thingys, since the @#$ thing was sitting on a seat and not hooked up to anything, no storms in the neighborhood at the time either. One'a -those- things...
Install the thing and see what happens...
- 'Doc

[PONY EXPRESS]

I think you would know better than I would, but I can't remember ever hearing of a truck being struck by lightning. I've never considered lightning a biggy for a mobile. That doesn't mean it couldn't be, but I've never had a problem in that regard. I wouldn't use that arrestor. I also think that if struck by lightning, that radio would be one of the last things I'd be worried about !
I have had one problem dealing with a radio that was blamed on lightning. I honestly thing that was one of those "get out of it" type warranty thingys, since the @#$ thing was sitting on a seat and not hooked up to anything, no storms in the neighborhood at the time either. One'a -those- things...
Install the thing and see what happens...
- 'Doc

Maybe not a truck but a car or van yes

['Doc]

...wonder if that lady would buy me a lottery ticket??
- 'Doc