Lightning Page 144

stock with a ball shape on the end is connected to the base of the tower and positioned in close proximity to a similar piece connected to the ground system. This is generally sufficient, since the transmitting equipment is quite rugged and of low impedance. About the worst that generally happens is that a breaker opens, putting the station off the air until an engineer resets it. There have been occasional colorful results however. The engineer of one local station told of a strike following the transmission line into the building and making a spectacular display as it zipped around the baseboards, finally grounding out via several electric outlets.

Lightning protection, then, depends upon many variables. Factors such as the amount of thunderstorm activity, the amount of exposed line, the equipment to be protected, etc. To even begin to describe the various techniques and the reasons for them would take a book of considerable size. Perhaps the main determining factors are the possible consequences of loss, and the economic status of the owner of the protected equipment.

W2FEZ