I'm a complete noob & I'm contemplating installing a PWS on my house. I live in a townhome community & have no outdoor property. I'm considering installing on an ~8' pole mounted to our roof terrace's dividing wall. Although not ideal, I believe it's the most viable option given the circumstances. Please see the photo for what I'm thinking:
I was looking through NOAA's PWS siting guide, located here:
https://www.weather.gov/media/epz/mesonet/CWOP-Siting.pdfOn page 3, it states: "When mounting any equipment on a structure, be sure to run a ground wire!" No specific explanation is given.
This is where the facts end & my questions begin. I suspect the concern they're addressing is lightning damage to the structure itself, not the equipment (I believe a direct hit would mean game over for any PWS, anyway). Please correct me if I'm mistaken.
I've only done about a couple of hours of research, but I can already see that this is somewhat of a controversial topic that is not even yet fully-understood. My conclusion at this point is to not even worry about it, summarized by the following points:
(1) My concerns initially stemmed from my erroneous belief that a PWS at that location would "attract" lightning. I've since learned that the presence of a PWS at the planned location would neither increase nor decrease the likelihood of a lightning strike hitting my home. If lightning wants to hit my house, it'll hit it, anyway.
(2) The best grounding it *could potentially do* is in effect turn it into a lightning rod, which would *hopefully* provide a safe path to ground. That feels like it could be a separate topic of discussion on its own, without any PWS considerations at all.
For what it's worth, I plan on buying a wireless setup. Finally, I'm not sure if it's relevant, but I have absolutely zero interest in grounding the equipment for the sake of "protecting" the equipment. I'd much rather take the very very very small chance lightning hitting my home x ~$400 rather than the guaranteed cost & PITA involved in grounding the mount.
I don't mean to sound harsh, but I realize that this is an enthusiast forum and advice may tend to skew towards the fanatical end of the spectrum (I've been guilty of this as well). So I'd appreciate down-to-earth, realistic assessments, if possible. Thanks in advance.