You are more than welcome and thank you for coming here for advice. We do our best.
Hal, I was advised that I need only protect the pairs that I will be using. I expect to use 7 pairs on the cable - 1 pair for the CO line, and three extensions @ 2-pair per set is six pairs, for a total of seven. Was I misinformed?
Well....Sort of: To do things correctly, all cable pairs entering a building are to be protected with gas-tubes in a UL-Listed BET. Lightning or ground potential issues don't pick and choose the pairs they plan to hit. They can all can get it.
On the other hand, the number of secondary protection devices you want to use is entirely up to you. Think about this though: Those 66 block ITW units that you mentioned are very easily bypassed with a pair of bridging clips. What if one goes bad and your only quick solution is to throw in a few clips until you can order a replacement module? I'll bet that this will get moved to the back burner and the temporary fix will never get replaced. Use these if you feel that you must, but they are only capable of providing secondary protection.
I must say that when you do come here for advice, expect our answers to be guidance for the 100% correct way to do things. We can't and won't offer halfway solutions when personnel/property issues are at risk. There are also times where we don't make friends as a result, but we'd rather take that risk than give bad advice. I'm sure that you'll understand our position here.
There is always a cheaper and simpler way to do just about anything. I know that we can't subscribe to offering cut-corner advice to people that we don't know in far-away locations. We surely wouldn't base our suggestions upon "possible" or "normal" weather patterns. I think that we all know how those can vary, especially lately.
I'm glad that we were at least able to get you some suggestions. Please feel free to stay around and don't be afraid to ask anything. The only stupid question is the one that isn't asked.
