Roof Antenna Lightning Protection

At the time of this writing december 2011 there are only three manufacturers that make listed products table 1.

Roof antenna lightning protection.

I inspected the wiring of my antenna with the intention of doing a write up on how it was grounded. Plp 32 lightning masts provide a cone of protection within which lightning charges are diverted to the mast and grounded instead of to the protected object. Or so i thought. Roof antennas are not grounded which not only make them an easy target for lightning strikes but the current from the lightning can move the antenna and provide an entryway for the lightning bolt to get deeper into your house.

A wire from the antenna mount to a grounding source described below or a surge arrester. The roof and walls will shield the antenna from lightning strikes. Lightning surge protector f female to f female dc 3 ghz 75 ohm with 90 v gas tube surge arrester lightning arrester f female to female 4 3 out of 5 stars 102. There are a few options for how to install lightning protection.

The antenna discharge unit protects antenna wiring and cabling from over voltages caused by lightning power cross and static buildup ul standard ul 452 covers antenna discharge units. Now as i was replacing an existing outdoor antenna i simply hooked the antenna up to the already grounded coaxial cable coming off the roof. An astute reader asked me about grounding the antenna in the comments of the review. That is unless you have a metal roof or radiant barrier.

1 ground connections at the antenna the antenna mast and lead in wires as well as control wires for the rotator or similar equipment should have a ground routed via the shortest possible path without sharp bends or kinks to a ground rod which is connected to the main earth ground for the home electrical system. Multiple plp 32 masts may be used to protect extended areas. Generally if you have a metal antenna mount on your roof that is over 5 feet tall you will want to ground that using a long copper wire. If you ve heard that the antenna on your roof can t be struck by lightning or that it will protect your house from being struck both are big old myths.

Of course performance won t be as good as with an outdoor antenna up high but it may be good enough. Attic installation is best because it gets you as high as practical.