Al Martin

Much has been written about failures due to ground potential rise (GPR), generally in connection with single houses with multiple grounds. But in cases where multiple houses are interconnected via a single piece of equipment, equipment failures could be caused by insulation issues due to GPR attributable to lightning.

The most common characterization of ground rods actually differs from what is observed in the case of lightning. This article discusses what is observed and how that affects ground rod performance.

This article is about varistor construction, characteristics, testing and the often-unappreciated ways varistors can fail.

Why the effects of nearby lightning might be over-estimated, or in some cases underestimated, and how to get more realistic estimates.

Why hasn’t multi-burst testing to simulate lightning been more widely done? And why hasn’t it made its way into standards?

Generally the effect of lightning on an information and technology (ICT) loop that we worry about most is damage. Let’s consider an ICT loop that is probably the most exposed to the effects of lightning – one that runs between structures.

This article will discuss the factors that affect the design of surge protectors for Remote Radio Head (RRH) equipment.

What determines how effective a cable shield is going to be? And how does the decision to ground or not ground a shield impact its effectiveness? Fortunately, there is a well-developed theory of shielding, which will be discussed as a way to get a general understanding of what can be expected of shield performance. But there’s more to it.

When we think of grounding systems, we tend to think only of resistance and how resistance can be reduced. But the things we do to lower resistance may increase inductance, which could actually make matters worse, especially for fast-rising secondary surges.

Select the most suitable waveforms for evaluating equipment resistibility to lightning damage when a GPR is either the suspected source of the damage, or its effects are to be tested for.