"Richard Harrison" wrote in message
...
Height is shown to attract lightning bolts to grounded towers used for
various purposes. Many are hit by nearly every passing thunderstorm.
Towers take lightning bolts. They don`t always if ever discharge the
earth and atmosphere in their area to eliminate hits. They do seem to
divert strikes in their vicinity and offer some protection to their
surroundings.

I`ve spent years in broadcast plants and seen many lightning strikes. If
you build it they will come.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI

Saw a program on lightning a year or so back that described the mechanism
involved in setting up a lightning strike. Every raised object in a fairly
large area below an accumulating cloud charge
sends up a stepped "leader"of opposing charge, all these "leaders"
advance in steps that also zig and zag randomly upward. If I remember
correctly the charge in the cloud is also sending out
multiple feelers in a zig zag process. When one of the clouds
feelers completes a circuit by meeting a leader from the ground
the circuit completes and all hell breaks loose. It's all relatively random
and the leader from a golfers head may just connect before the leader from a
much taller tree or tower connects. if he's a lucky golfer the taller stuff
will make the connection. I've seen weather service warnings lately
indicating that anything within a 25 mile radius of a stormclouds center has
a chance of winning the electrical
lottery. When I see lightning as I'm mowing my 7 acres here in southern
Oklahoma, I now shut down and make for the house.If I have an inkling we're
gonna see weather I bag the terminal end of my various coax connections
before the weather starts and coil them outside away from the house

Harold
KD5SAK