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I'm considering putting up a long wire antenna across my yard for reception / DX purposes. Due to how my yard is set up I think one good way of putting it up would be with a metal mast on a secondary building and then to a nearby tree near my house. So the feed point would be on the tree.

My question is if this increases the risk of lightning strikes? The metal antenna can be grounded and the risk there can be reduced. But I don't really know if you can ground a tree like that.

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    $\begingroup$ There is no code or technical requirement to ground the tree. It has roots deep into the ground. The grounding requirement starts where the coax enters the house is what can get you killed. NEC 810 covers the requirements. $\endgroup$
    – Dereck
    Commented Jun 30 at 23:28
  • $\begingroup$ @Dereck NEC sounds like a Canadian or US standard? I think it's worth noting that the installation standards depend on the country! $\endgroup$
    – Marcus Müller
    Commented Jul 1 at 11:08
  • $\begingroup$ I'm afraid I can't see how building regulations answer my question regarding the risk of lightning strikes. $\endgroup$
    – Dennis
    Commented Jul 1 at 12:00
  • $\begingroup$ Once upon a time nearly every house had a giant metal antenna sticking up above the roofline to pull in signals from that now-passe thing called TV. Sure, lightning might strike it, or it might strike the tree nearby, or... Even purpose-designed lightning rods don't always get preferentially struck. Disconnect the antenna outside the house if bad weather is coming in. $\endgroup$
    – Jon Custer
    Commented Jul 1 at 17:47
  • $\begingroup$ It is commonly claimed that lightening rods do not "attract" lightning or increase the chances of a lighting strike. However, I have not seen a definitive reference. If true, this would seem to imply that your antenna wire will not increase the risk of a lightning strike. But it might very well increase the amount of damage (i.e. to your radio) if a lightening strike does occur. $\endgroup$
    – gschro
    Commented Jul 1 at 18:48

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