Apologies if this has been suggested already, I've got too many irons in the fire and might have missed/forgotten if this was earlier said; I no longer use a wired router, all my computers are wireless so there is no physical ethernet connection to any computer.
I use the Netgear A6210 USB wireless Rx/Tx dongle and it is fast, very fast. Ethernet directly connected I get 300 Mbps download from the cable. With the Netgear dongle, I also get 300 Mbps. I lose nothing and eliminate that lightning path. As to the cable itself coming to the house, I have replaced the cable company's grounded F81 Barrel Connector between the drop line and the house with a 75 ohm grounded surge protector bought at DXEngineering, I use them on my two HI-Z RX arrays as well. After taking a hit to my just out of warranty, McIntosh tube preamp's USB this year, (forcing me to either pay big $ in repair or go with Toslink, I chose the glass toslink. (For audio only, the Toslink is excellent but with this system Toslink only offers one way communication from the computer to the preamp and some home entertainment utilizes two way communication). Fortunately, my needs don't require this. Those 75 ohm cable lines must be protected, just like our communications coax. 73, Gary KA1J > very good suggestions Wayne. I work in the Communications field and > have for 40 years. I have seen massive amounts of lightning damage, > regardless of grounding , protection, etc etc. If you take a direct > hit.. something is going to fry and that´s it. > > I unplug antennas, power cords AND Ethernet Cables to all computers in > my ham shack. I must confess however, I have not disconnected the USB > and RS232 lines. I sort of figure if the power cord and ethernet > cables to my computer are disconnected, the path for the power surge > is eliminated. BUT.. guess it would be better to be sure. And btw, yes > my computers are all grounded very well. > > thanks for the heads up > > Ronnie W5SUM > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Wayne Burdick > Sent: Monday, October 29, 2018 10:08 PM > To: Elecraft Reflector > Cc: k...@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [Elecraft] Avoiding costly lightning damage to your radios > gear > > Every year, especially in summer, our techs see radios come in that > have been damaged by lightning, despite the radio's protective > circuitry. You can take steps to reduce your own risk. > > 1. Many of us remember to disconnect antennas when lightning is > anticipated. But in our experience, the most common source of damage, > by far, is from an attached computer. Computers themselves often fail > due to lightning strikes. They can also act as conduits for surges to > other gear. Just to emphasize this point: Customers often say "I > disconnected everything but the USB cable to the computer...," which > left the interface to their radio exposed. > > Note: Only in rare cases have we seen surge damage via other I/O ports > (accessory jack, paddle/keyer jacks, PTT IN, KEY OUT, and DC). USB and > RS232 ports are the most susceptible. > > 2. Some stations have an ad-hoc ground system and little or no ESD or > surge protection. If you haven't already taken protective measures, we > strongly recommend reading this article, which goes into some detail > regarding how lightning finds its way in: > > http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/June2017 > /Chusid-Morgan.pdf > > At the very least, be sure your PC and other gear share a short, > heavy, common ground. > > 3. As for protecting your PC, here's a good starting point: > > https://www.wikihow.com/Protect-a-PC-in-a-Thunderstorm > > 73, > Wayne > N6KR > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to w5...@comcast.net > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to g...@ka1j.com ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
