Ground Bus Bar - Homebrew Style!

Thunderstorms are a rarity on the north west coast of Wales.  Plenty of sea means storm cells never really build up here; it can be many years between what even then are usually short-lived storms.

Ouch!  Image: Wikicommons.

But not this year!  We've had a run of storms running in from the east, where there's more land to heat up the cells.  As a result, the station has been left running for the coax feeds to disconnect them several times already!

So, it's time to invest in lightning protection.  Arrestors are on the way from DXEngineering, not bad at just over $100 for four.  But the copper bus bars are a bit expensive - about $68 for a four-position bar (which inevitably means won't be enough positions, and so more expense for a bigger unit!)

So, out with the lump hammer!  I took a 3/4" copper pipe and hammered it into a flat bar.  I then bent the ends to make some standoff room.  I used enough pipe to give eight arrestor mounting positions in all.

The standoff insulators are also a bit expensive, with PVC-homebrew ones prone to cracking after a while outdoors.  So, I went native and made my own out of slate blocks!  A hacksaw gets through slate fairly easily, but it tends to get clogged with very fine dust (this is used in toothpaste.)  Eventually, I managed two blocks with nice flat sides, and drilled some recessed holes for the bolt and fixing screws.

I can't testify as to slate's suitability for this precise application, although it has been used in the past for similar purposes.  If you live in a place with lots of storms, I'd look into the insulating properties of slate quite carefully first.  At your own risk, as they say!

Whilst it's a little Heath Robinson, it's nevertheless neat enough, and cost me nothing.  The only problem with using slate is that it's greatest strength - the ability to split it easily - is also its most annoying feature in that it tends to split when you don't want it to!  If you do split a block in two, just use some Araldite-type two-part epoxy, and it will be stronger than ever!