Lightning protection

Radio amateurs may be interested in obtaining a copy of the public comment draft of the latest revision of Australian Standard 1768 on lightning protection. Others may just be interested to know that such a standard exists in an up-to-date form.

This document appears on the Standards Australia inventory as public comment draft DR 06132. It is available for free download in PDF format from www.saiglobal.com/shop
There is also an EXCEL spreadsheet that can be downloaded which assists in the assessment of risk of lightning strikes, etc.

Many radio amateurs will be interested in the practical risk management approach taken by this draft standard and some may even consider contributing to development of this valuable standard by submitting a formal comment on it to the standards committee process (as outlined in the draft). There is a whole lot to read and consider in its 194 pages!

It is surprising to observe that in the big picture of things, the typical home amateur radio installation, unless it is very tall or on an exposed hilltop, does not increase the risk of a direct lightning strike by a whole lot. Nevertheless, such things do happen infrequently, and the draft standard also has useful information about steps that can be taken to minimise damage in such situations.

Of course, the draft status of this document means that the eventual new standard AS/NZS 1768 may be different from the present draft, different by the improvements that have arisen from all comments received.

The eventual new edition of AS/NZS 1768 will be an item that has to be purchased - there are no free downloads of published documents!

Source: Wireless Institute of Australia

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