Are antennas safe during lightning storms?

[JWarner2]

Hi all,

I don’t have much knowledge in regards to antennas.

Anyway, there is a storm due soon so would like to know if 1090mhz antennas are safe? Is there any way to protect my antenna from lightning? Is it at risk of being struck?

As I said I don’t know much, please don’t have a go at me for being dumb lol. I just need an answer.

Thanks a bunch!

[abcd567]

The post quoted below is a bit too detailed for someone who wants a quick and short answer for protecting his antenna from lightning. However it is worth reading to get an overall picture of lightning protection.
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https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/lightning-protection-guide/29373

 

@abcd567

2. Lightning and Surge Protectors for Electronic Equipment

Lightning protectors, Surge protectors and UPS units provide good degree of protection of Electronic equipment from voltage spikes from everyday power surges, static build up, and distant lightning strikes .

However when lightning strikes a building directly or very close to it, lightning/surge protector simply cannot have any effect on the tremendous amount of currents and voltages involved. Lightning current in a direct hit is simply too big to protect with a lightning discharge device, or a little electronic device inside a power strip, or a UPS unit. The lightning will just flash over or through the device.

Even a disconnect switch or physical disconnection will not guarantee protection against a direct or close strike. A small air gap of few inches or even few feet, will not stop a lightning bolt that has already jumped across miles of air between cloud and ground.

[alleyoopie]

I’ve been feeding FA for a couple of years and lightning has caused the demise of:
2 Raspberry Pi’s 3B with fried RJ45 ports
1 RTL-SDR preamp with a fried chip (this week!)