Great conversation…I live in Jax Florida and was wondering about the best configuration for my wingbits/geonet device I just received…haven’t put it on the roof yet…waiting for the rain to stop…lol
Lightning arrestors, despite what many people believe, don’t protect your device from a direct lightning strike. Their purpose is to discharge static electricity that builds up in the atmosphere and redirect currents from nearby strikes, which can induce a charge in your antenna.
When you install a lightning arrestor properly with a ground wire running directly into the ground, it helps send as much charge as possible into the ground since that's the path of least resistance. It can reduce most static but will introduce some dB loss.
If you want extra protection, you could add a lightning rod with a direct ground cable, hoping the strike follows that path. But nothing is going to save a Wingbits device from a direct hit. We’re talking about 30,000 amps on average, if it takes a direct strike, it’s done.
In the end the arrestor is one of those “peace of mind” devices. And home insurance may require it, check your local one. You will probably sleep better knowing you have one. But your device will be cooked regardless of a direct strike.
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@JD Great points. After I experienced some losses I installed fuse-type devices so one getting hit would hopefully limit the damage to it alone and not other devices operating on the same switch.
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@JD LIGHTNING ROD!!!!!!! That is number one. And not just one. At least two. you need heavy gauge copper run across the ridge to each rod. Then a good ground rod in each corner. Lightning rods work. They discharge the atmosphere around your house. Not 100% but a much much better chance. I had a house on a hill in PA. The copper wire was stolen/ cut from the ground up 8 feet. I had lightning strikes in the area proven by lightning sensors in the weather radar very close to the house. Trees next to the house had been hit by lightning. my roof had 5 lightning rods connected at the corners with thick copper strand between each rod. Then 3 down wires fed directly to 3 ground rods. I reconnected them. Immediately at the next storms the lightning strikes dissipated before coming within a mile of the house. lightning radar proved this that not only was my house protected but the local trees within 1000 feet were also protected and ever since you could see the lightning strikes dissipate around the house. Not a guarantee but it definitely helped around the house that was on the peak of a hill. Not an issue for antennas. Many ham antennas create a ground plane extension below the upper rod. The lightning rods should attract the lightning before the antenna gets hit. But dispersion of the atmosphere static charge by the rods should rule first.
Whole home surge protector attached to the circuit breaker box. They run $50 to $100 at the local hardware store. This will protect the 240V line and ground. should be surge protected L-N L-L L-G.
As for ethernet, this is an advantage to wireless. no direct connection. IF you use ethernet that should also be plugged through a ethernet surge protector on the UPS or independent Ethernet surge.
The power supply should blow up first, hopefully before the equipment does But Also plug your Power supply box into a backup UPS. You get backup power and surge protection.
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I’ve got a few installs in west palm beach next month and grounding was a complete oversight… Guess I better get my thunder buddy and hope for the best
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Lightning arrestor just in case with a ground rod.
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Just avoid mounting on the tallest structure without a nearby lightning rod!
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Wingbits
I’m in Orlando where we get t-storms nearly every afternoon in June, July & August and have lost Helium IOT as well as non-crypto electronics due to the surge coming in through the ethernet line. So be mindful when you approach this issue that there are more ways to lose equipment than just a direct strike.
Somewhere I have screenshots saved of the before/after showing that 75%+ of Helium IOT devices went offline permanently in my area which coverered a few hundred acres (!!!) of town after one afternoon t-storm. I’m still not entirely sure what could’ve caused such widespread losses. For mine it travelled through ethernet since I could see they were scorched… I think that was the same event.
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