Lightning Protection

Respect it

An antenna is the tallest metal thing in your yard, connected by wire to equipment inside your house. Nothing makes a station truly lightning-proof, but good practice dramatically reduces the risk to your gear and, more importantly, your home.

The simplest protection: disconnect

• When storms are forecast or you leave home, disconnect the coax from the radio and move it away from the equipment, or better, disconnect it outside the house.
• Unplug power supplies and computers connected to the station.
• Never operate or handle antenna connections during a thunderstorm.

Grounding and bonding

• Bring all coax and control cables into the house through a single entry panel, grounded to a ground rod outside.
• Bond that ground to the house’s electrical service ground with heavy wire. Separate, un-bonded grounds can cause dangerous voltage differences during a strike. Follow the Canadian Electrical Code, and use an electrician if in doubt.
• Keep ground wires short, straight and heavy. Lightning doesn’t like sharp bends.
• Ground the mast or tower at its base.

Surge protection

• Fit a coaxial lightning arrestor on each feedline at the entry panel.
• Use surge protection on AC power and on any network or rotator control cables too. Lightning finds every path in.

Static build-up

Even without a strike, wind and nearby storms can charge a wire antenna to thousands of volts. A static drain, or a DC path to ground in the antenna design, bleeds it off safely.

Last updated October 2026.