[time-nuts] Surge Arresters

[Chris Albertson]

You really can't protect yourself from a direct strike.  But that is rare.
 More common is a close strike.

You first line of defense is to ground the metal mast (pipe).  Place a
ground clamp on the pipe and run a large ground write by the most direct
route to a ground rod driven into the soil. This rod needs to be tied into
the the building ground.   You must use mechanical clamp type connections
at each end.    This ground system is direct almost all the energy away.
 If the coax wire is inside the mast it will be well protected.

I owned a sail boat for years.  On the ocean my 65 foot aluminum mast was
the tallest conductor for many miles.  But it was securely conected to a
8,000 pound lead keel that was in saltwater.   Any lightening strike the
energy would go mostly to the water.

Then inside the atto you have a lighten/surge protector mounted on some
kind of metal bulkhead.  (A common electrical box works for this and is
cheap.     As long as you don't like in Orlando FL you should be fine

-- 

Chris Albertson
Redondo Beach, California