[time-nuts] GPS-Attached Equipment Lightning Protection

[Rob Kimberley]

I'm not using any at the moment, but then all my GPS antennae are indoors
(long story!). 

Have been involved with supplying protection to clients over the years, and
in the main, have been RF surge suppressor devices such as used by Meinberg
http://www.meinberg.de/english/products/cn_ube.htm
http://www.meinberg.de/english/products/cn_ube_280.htm and others. 

For straight RF feeds these are by far the easiest to implement and provide
good protection.

For GPS systems which utilise "smart antennae" i.e. the antenna also houses
the receiver module, and the down cable contains data plus a 1PPS, then
opto-isolation or a fibre optic link is the only real way to protect your
real estate on the ground.

Rob Kimberley (in UK)



-----Original Message-----
From: time-nuts-bounces at febo.com [mailto:time-nuts-bounces at febo.com] On
Behalf Of Matthew Smith
Sent: 28 February 2008 21:40
To: Time Nuts List
Subject: [time-nuts] GPS-Attached Equipment Lightning Protection

Hi Folks

Is anyone implementing any form of lightning protection for their
GPS-attached equipment?

If my antenna gets struck or we have a nearby hit (nearest strike to
ground since we moved here was about 470m away, IIRC), I would like to
limit the damage to the GPS module.

My thought was to stick an optoisolator or similar between the serial
and PPS pins and the level converter (MAX232 equivalent) and power the
GPS module itself with one of those little Meanwell high-isolation DC/DC
converters.  This is very similar to what I am planning to do with the
outside components of my 1-Wire weather system.

I'd be interested to know what everyone else is doing in this respect
(if anything).

Cheers

M


-- 
Matthew Smith
Smiffytech - Technology Consulting & Web Application Development
Business: http://www.smiffytech.com/
Personal: http://www.smiffysplace.com/
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/smiffy

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