[BC] Impedance changes - was lighting removal

[Thomas G. Osenkowsky]

A 215 foot tower at 1150 KHz is 90.44 degrees.
4 feet equals 1.68 degrees. The width of the rod is
far less than the tower face. Schelkunoff theorized
that the top of a tower acts as a capacitor to ground.
This array is apparently sensitive to height changes.
It would be an informative exercise to model it
precisely in a matrix routine to determine the
inner workings and sensitivities.

A beacon OTOH consists mostly of glass and may
not have as great an influence as a conductor. This was
the basis of my initial post.

Tom Osenkowsky, CPBE

>A few years ago, during cold, windy February weather, I noticed that there
>was a shift in the phase & ratio on a 2 tower DA that had been notoriously
>stable.  When I was driving into the site, I noticed one of the 4 ft.
>lightning rods that perched alongside the 300 mm (~ 3 ft. tall) beacon was
>missing.  I drove to the tower and found the rod on the ground just outside
>the tower fence.  The rod had work-hardened, from vibration, and finally
>snapped off.  After replacement with a new one of identical length,
>everything fell right back into place.  A few months later, I lost the
>lightning rod on the other tower.  It doesn't take much to be seen on a
>phase monitor.  We're talking a 215 ft. tower on 1150 kHz here.
>Gary, K?CX