Richard,
You said "ladder line," by which I take you to mean "window line" based on your use of a small PVC conduit for the entry point. I used a standard plastic stud-mounted electrical box to which I affixed a 1.5" PVC adapter and a short run of PVC off the back of that adapter through the wall to just abut the vinyl siding. A small horizontal slit in the siding (centered on the conduit) allows the window line to go through the siding directly into the conduit. No contact with readily combustible material. A solid nylon box plate cover is used inside, w a horizontal slit to allow the window line to pass through. The slit in the siding is narrow enough to maintain tension on the line itself so that it doesn't move unless pulled deliberately in either direction. If you were to use a double or triple electrical box and drill holes for conduit adapters at opposite corners on the diagonal, that would give a bit of space between your window line and coax runs. Smaller PVC and fittings should suffice for the coax.
I do have a giant DPDT knife switch several feet from the entry point. One pole is tied to the adjacent grounding system, and the other to the window line entering the station. Line from the antenna goes to the center posts of the switch. I keep the antenna grounded when not in use, and never use the antenna when lightening threatens. The ground wire from the switch is about 1' from a 10' ground rod, which is one of five (5) such rods spaced 25' apart, with the 5th being right beneath the electrical entry panel. A 4awg unbroken solid copper wire runs from the panel to each successive rod and knife switch and is thermally welded to each rod. A 2" copper strap is solidly clamped to the 5th ground rod, and has a short run through the wall a few feet from the window line entry point. All equipment is attached to ground inside using 1" tinned braid, which terminates on the solid copper ground bus to which the copper strap is securely bonded. After the knife switch and before the line enters the house, I placed a set of bleeder resistors to drain static from the antenna system when it is not directly grounded w the knife switch (i.e., during operation). There is concrete evidence of a prior direct lightening strike on a tree 25' or so from the station. That was before we purchased this house six years ago, but it serves as a visible reminder. Too close in both time and distance for complacency. So, maybe I'm not actually being paranoid about effective grounding. I also installed a Type 1 meter-based SPD, a Type 2 whole house breaker-panel SPD and use Type 3 SPDs on all station outlets, including the 240V circuit. Hopefully, a grounded antenna and these SPDs will afford some protection against surges induced by a nearby (non-direct) lightening strike. But nothing would protect against a direct strike to my wire antenna in its ungrounded state.
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Topic: Ladderline & interference during a co-located 1 foot run of 2 other lines (Read 462 times)