You’ve put in surge arrestors to protect your coaxial cable-fed equipment and antennas—check. You’ve installed a Ladder Line Surge Protector for antennas fed with 300-ohm and 450-ohm ladder line—check. Receive feedline surge protector in place—check. Well done!
But before you get too satisfied with your lightning protection coverage, take a look around your shack and see if there’s anything that still leaves your station vulnerable. If you haven’t addressed the control lines of your rotators and remote antenna switches, you may be only one lightning strike away from trouble.
Invest in an additional level of insurance by installing a DX Engineering Rotator Control Line Protector (DXE-IS-RCT). This eight-terminal shunt-type surge protector is designed for use on rotator cables and other low-voltage control systems where voltages are normally below 60V DC or AC. External terminals allow convenient connection while the surge devices remain securely protected inside a weatherproof metal enclosure, with mounting stud and terminal gaskets to deter water from entering.
Features include:
- Terminal strips to connect up to eight rotator control wires
- ¼-inch-20 mounting stud that allows multiple mounting configurations
- Each line connection has an individual shunt MOV for maximum surge protection
- Voltage spikes exceeding 82 Vdc (in either polarity) will be shunted to ground
- RoHS-compliant construction
DXE-IS-RCT protectors are recommended to be installed on a tower leg or ground rod using an optional DXE-J-1 or DXE-J-2 Grounding Clamp or a DXE-UCGC-Z Copper Ground Rod Clamp. The location you choose for your DXE-IS-RCT should provide a good, low-impedance ground connection. If a tower or mast is being used and is properly grounded, your DXE-IS-RCT may be connected to the base of that structure just above the grounding point.
The surface to which a grounding clamp is connected should be thoroughly cleaned to a bright-colored surface. This procedure will minimize weather-related complications and improve conductivity. DXE-CCK Copper Cleaning Kits provide cleaning pads and copper paste which is ideal for this application. Be sure to follow this up by applying a conductive anti-oxidant coating, such as Jet-Lube SS-30 Pure Copper Anti-Seize available at DX Engineering.
Go to DXEngineering.com to view the complete lineup of DX Engineering branded grounding equipment and lightning protection, including surge arrestors, enclosure kits, copper strap bonding clamps, universal copper grounding clamps, RF ground plane kits, bearing bypass ground kits, and more. Need a comprehensive resource for grounding your station? We highly recommend OnAllBands blogger Ward Silver, N0AX’s book, ARRL’s Grounding and Bonding for the Radio Amateur.
