Lightning fried my scanner

[zlamb0002]

Lightning hit my antenna last night and killed my BCD996P2. It was only up 15' so I never dreamed of lightning hitting it. I am going to replace it but can't decide between another BCD996P2 or a SDS200, any suggestions? With my new setup could I ground it by attaching my mast to one of my steel fence post that is about 2 feet deep?

 

[jaspence]

Lightning strikes hit anywhere they want, even the ground. I spent three days replacing cable and a switch when a strike reached an underground cable and took out our network. No sign of a metal object being struck, just a burned patch in the grass.

 

[wtp]

i live in Florida.
so, i only use back of the set on my radios.
do you really NEED an outside antenna ?
granted my county uses a trunked system and i get to hear stuff that is in 25 miles away in almost every direction.
the county is 50 miles across.
oh, and every radio is on a surge protector/battery backup.

 

[zlamb0002]

i live in Florida.
so, i only use back of the set on my radios.
do you really NEED an outside antenna ?
granted my county uses a trunked system and i get to hear stuff that is in 25 miles away in almost every direction.
the county is 50 miles across.
oh, and every radio is on a surge protector/battery backup.

I have a metal roof so the signal is horrible. I have tried a couple indoor antennas and none of them work.

 

[WA0CBW]

Did you follow the NEC requirements for grounding your antenna installation? There have been many discussions here on what is required. This won't prevent a lightning strike but can mitigate some damage caused by a lightning event.
BB

 

[mass-man]

I have a complete metal roof on my house! You might try placing the antenna near one end, a circulation vent or something. I have been surprised that my antenna works as well as it does up in there. Good coax could help a bit, getting weak signals all the way to your scanner.

 

[wtp]

ok.
but i would really recommend an 8 foot copper rod for grounding.
and disconnect the antenna when there is a storm.
some of the strikes here actually do hit 10 miles away from the storm.
clouds are great at doing that.

 

[mmckenna]

With my new setup could I ground it by attaching my mast to one of my steel fence post that is about 2 feet deep?

No.

Grounding needs to be done per National Electric Code. Running a random piece of wire to a metal fence post isn't even close.

A couple of things to consider, though:

National Electric Code is for human safety. Grounding per NEC (or a fence post) isn't going to prevent damage.
Direct lightning strikes, if that is what really happened, will do damage. There is no way around it in the hobby world.
Even an indirect strike will induce enough energy into the antenna, coax, mast, etc. to do a lot of damage to your radio.
Even a bunch of static electricity will do damage.

If you are going to ground the antenna, you need to do it per NEC for human safety. Grounding your antenna to a fence post while your home is grounded to a proper ground rod, can result in difference of potential that can be problematic/dangerous.

Other option:
When you are not using the scanner and you even slightly expect there to be a lightning storm, disconnect the coax and pull it back out of the house. And then hope the lightning doesn't hit some other part of your home.

 

[dave3825]

It was only up 15' so I never dreamed of lightning hitting it.

Many people do not realize lightning does not always hit the tallest object. And many people do not even know that lightning does not just come from up above. It can originate from the ground and go up which is ground to cloud..

I spent three days replacing cable and a switch when a strike reached an underground cable and took out our network. No sign of a metal object being struck, just a burned patch in the grass.

Had lightning hit a tree, then continue to my stockade fence and fry a set of solar led strip lights that were 50 feet long. Inside my house, a breaker was popped, the network switch was fried as well as the onboard Ethernet port on this pc. Was pretty obvious when only wifi was working and not any of the wired pc's. Rest of the pc is fine. Also fried some led grow lights and an Opus 3100 NiMh battery charger. Only logical thing I came up with was it got into the extension cord that was in the yard and came in.

 

[doctordialtone]

any suggestions?

I have both the 996P2 and SDS200.

If the 996P2 is working ok, I'd just got with that. No SD Card - easier to use, I love mine.

Good luck!

 

[wtp]

i had hoped that mmckenna would show up !

 

[K5MPH]

Ground your antenna 4 foot ground rod is good but a 8 foot is better,this will bleed your antenna of negative Ions to ground ............

 

[dave3825]

i had hoped that mmckenna would show up !

He did at 1:08pm. Scroll back to Post #8

 

[wtp]

yes dave, i saw it. that is why my post.
i can see how it could go the other way though...
he is the big one on grounding.

 

[mmckenna]

For the hobbyist, there's not much you can reasonably do to prevent damage in a direct lightning strike. It's good to follow NEC, as that's designed for safety.

As for a direct strike, I'd be surprised if this was actually a direct strike. More than likely a nearby strike that pumped enough juice into the radio to gooify the soft expensive bits on the inside. A direct strike probably would have resulted in the scanner magically disappearing from the room and a big black skid mark left in its place from it's rapid departure as it slipped the surly bonds of earth.

Or something like that...


Probably one of the worst things you can do is start randomly pounding in ground rods or random fence posts and not properly bonding everything.

 

[12dbsinad]

Wasn't a direct hit, probably induced by a nearby strike. If it was direct, your coax would look like the "industrial cable" on Back To The Future when the clock tower was hit, on fire along with your house, and your scanner would be embedded in the wall after getting launched across the room.

But yes, grounding is VERY important and often overlooked because, well, it'll never happen to me!

 

[wtp]

and tied all together to avoid finding out that the word potential has a couple of meanings.
my "in laws" have a son that calls himself an electrician. at their 1950's house they did not have any ground.
so he tied all the outlet grounds together.
the cable guy found out that when he grounded his box to a rod he put in the ground and then got in between the fake ground and his real ground that there was a difference in potential.
i was there in a second to help him, he fell back on a bed.
he was not happy and sounded off when they got there.
it has since been corrected.

 

[Brales60]

I have a metal roof so the signal is horrible. I have tried a couple indoor antennas and none of them work.

Me as well, with a foil wrap and metal tint film on the windows. No way on a antenna on my scanners. My external antenna is grounded big time by rods, copper wire and lightning protection before the cable comes inside the house.

 

[zlamb0002]

Me as well, with a foil wrap and metal tint film on the windows. No way on a antenna on my scanners. My external antenna is grounded big time by rods, copper wire and lightning protection before the cable comes inside the house.

The more I look at the codes and watch youtube videos the more I get confused. Is there an easy guide on proper grounding?

 

[mmckenna]

The more I look at the codes and watch youtube videos the more I get confused. Is there an easy guide on proper grounding?

https://www.mikeholt.com/instructor2/img/product/pdf/17LED-1498-sample.pdf

Better yet, consult with the licensed and experienced electrician.