Nick Waterman wrote:
> I have the dummy load in ANT1 of my KPA100, and the real ant in
> ANT2. I have this crazy idea that ANT1 is selected when powered
> down, so I have just a teeny tiny bit more lightning protection
> with the real ant disconnected, even if it's only a fraction of
> a mm gap in a relay.
Sorry Nick, "Teeny" and "lightning" in the same sentence is oxymoronic.
For small static charges, maybe, if there's a bleed path (I think
Elecraft rigs have one). For direct hits (or near direct hits, or hits
on your power or tel lines some distance away followed by flames), call
the fire department, assuming the phone still works. Make sure your rig
is grounded from the chassis to the "real Earth," as our UK/VK
colleagues call it, which is a much better way of looking at it
actually. Our use of the word "ground" calls up a steel tent stake in
the dirt. "Earth" is often not what you stand on, it may be unreachable
electrically.
Lightning strikes are really RF ... DC to light (OK ... we all know
that, we've seen them, they're scary). A good DC ground, like the one
the power company uses and might be required by your building codes, may
be an open circuit for RF.
Disconnect your K2. Disconnect all your gear. Unplug it from the surge
protectors in a thunderstorm. Consider the size of the surge protector
compared to the distance between the cloud and the powerline that takes
the hit. If the static voltage was enough to make it from a cloud to
anywhere near your antenna, the liklihood that the relay contacts are
going to stop it approach zero ... really fast.
Fred K6DGW
Auburn CA CM98lw
Nick Waterman wrote:
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hi Geoff, Yes the basic K2 with the ATU also has 2 antenna jacks. I
also put a dummy load on 'Ant 2', I can't tell you how many times I
tried to auto tune into an empty 'Ant 2', before I finally caught on.
I have the dummy load in ANT1 of my KPA100, and the real ant in ANT2. I
have this crazy idea that ANT1 is selected when powered down, so I have
just a teeny tiny bit more lightning protection with the real ant
disconnected, even if it's only a fraction of a mm gap in a relay.
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