Yea, when I use to climb cell towers years ago, quite a few sites had strike counters installed inside the shack. Some of them indicated many hundreds of strikes. The site engineers claimed that if we were on the rig during a direct hit, we would merely suffer burnt hands and possibly flash blindness as the lightning rushed passed us on the way to ground, but we sure never wanted to find out. We couldnt get off those things fast enough once the forecasts came in. I've ridden plenty of exciting things in my life but I'll pass on that one.
Yes, in a direct hit scenario, damage will be done. We can mitigate these effects to some extent, but cannot avoid them entirely. Giving the lightning what it wants, the fastest/shortest path to ground, is still the best defense. At least in preventing a house fire. As for your antenna? Exspensive marshmallow roaster. I dont ever count on being completely protected, so I'll settle for knowing the lightning at least has the *option* of taking the ground path instead of torching my house.
Those arrestor/diffuser contraptions are nice, but if the path from arrestor to ground is long enough, it might jump the gap anyway. Or find some other convenient target. Lightning is a beast in panic. Compare it to a raging rodeo-bull, in your living room. Whats it gonna do?
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