On Nov 30, 10:15*am, ml wrote:


i always *wonder * what *would be logical to assume * in a *direct *hit *
scenario

thanks

You don't mention what the roof antennas are mounted on.
IE: metal masts, vent pipes, etc?? Well grounded, or not?
If you are depending on the feedlines taking the brunt of the
strike to ground, yes, could be some damage along the way.
I doubt the dipoles would have much trouble, but the J-pole
could well take the strike. Or any other vertical pointy antennas.
That you are grounding at the entry will probably save the
house if you have a good low resistance ground at that point.

But it would be better to have the supporting antenna masts
take the brunt of the strike to ground via good ground wires
or straps if on the roof, or even better, directly planted on the
ground.
You will still have current on the feed lines, but it will be much
less than if they have to carry the whole load.
This is why I've always preferred using a stand alone metal
mast as my support. I'll mount my dipoles slightly lower than
the tip of the mast. Sometimes I'll have ground planes or
verticals on top, but if I do, I always run the coax all the way
down to the base of the mast before leading it to the shack.
I've had two strikes to that mast in the last few years and
had no damage at all. The mast acted as the lightning rod,
and the antennas just floated along for the ride.
I have the coax cables grounded outside the window, and
you can hear an audible arc at the instant of the strike.
So there is current on the lines to ground, but it's not enough
to hurt anything.
But if I used the coax as the only path to ground, I wouldn't
feel near as optimistic it would survive without damage.
And 175 ft is a pretty long path to take if it's not straight
down to ground. You want all those cables snubbed to
ground at a point well before they get to the ICE.
If they dangle from overhead down to the ICE, the potential
will be quite large.