Thor is my favorite Nordic god (I have all his comic books), but I prefer that he not visit my ham radio shack. This week, I'll tell you how to prevent Thor, the god of thunder, from visiting yours.

Don't let this happen to you! Read how, here and now.

Want to see something real scary? If so, go to the Lightning to Ham Radio Tower Web page.

I don't know about you, but that photo made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end! I sure don't want to put my tower in that situation. And with thunderstorms rolling through here regularly during the summer months, it reminds me to check my Amateur Radio station and make sure its lightning protection is up to snuff.

There are some fine Web pages that deal with the subject of lightning protection for ham radio equipment and they will provide you with a wealth of information on how to do the right thing in the right way. For starters, the Lightning Protection page of ARRLWeb contains links to QST articles about lightning protection, as well as links to other pertinent Web sites.

"Lightning Protection for the Amateur Radio Station" is an excellent paper on the topic prepared by Ron Block, KB2UYT, of W.R. Block & Associates, Inc., a distributor of lightning protection equipment and a consultant to the communications industry for lightning protection and grounding. This paper was published as a three-part article in QST and the articles are accessible from the Lightning Protection page of ARRLWeb. So you have a choice of reading it in one piece at the W.R. Block Web site or reading the three PDF files available at ARRLWeb.

"Ham Radio Station Protection" is an 11-page engineering note that provides a very thorough discussion of ham radio station protection techniques prepared by PolyPhaser, a provider of RF lightning protection and grounding products.

"Amateur Radio Grounding to Protect Against Lightning" by Rick Bandla, VE3CVG, and "Lightning Protection" by Randy Bynum, NR6CA, relate personal tips regarding lightning protection for the ham shack.

After reading all this information, I realized that Thor can enter my shack at will. I have some work ahead of me to thwart his entry.

Until next time, keep on surfin'.

Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, resides in downtown Wolcott, Connecticut, and has been a QST writer for over 25 years. Since getting his ticket in 1969, Stan has sampled nearly every entrée in the Amateur Radio menu (including a stint as Connecticut Section Manager), but he keeps coming back to his favorite preoccupations: VHF and packet radio. As a result, he runs a 2-meter APRS digipeater and weather station (WA1LOU-15) from his mountaintop location in central Connecticut. Stan, a long time advocate of using computers with Amateur Radio, wrote programs to dupe contests and calculate antenna bearings way back in 1978. Today, he is on the board of directors of Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) and uses his Mac to surf the Internet searching for that perfect ham radio Web page. To contact Stan, send e-mail to wa1lou@arrl.net.

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