Protecting your equipment goes beyond a direct strike. I had an element in my K3 transmit final wiped out by a lightning strike a good distance away. I wasn't on the air at the time but I remember the strike. This was through a pair of Alpha-Delta switches.
Sometimes I miss "the good old days" of vacuum tube rigs when I operated during thunderstorms ;-) Ken WA8JXM On Fri, Jul 28, 2023 at 7:31 PM Ray Maxfield <wa6...@gmail.com> wrote: > I worked a Number of Years as a Broadcast Engineer. > The Broadcast Industry has Put this one to bed years ago. > No Need to re-invent the Wheel. Yes, it will Cost some Dollars > to do it Right, but it can save YOUR Equipment..... > Ray WA6VAB K3 > > > On Fri, Jul 28, 2023 at 3:51 PM Rick NK7I <rick.n...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > We're in accord on static. Like lightning, give it someplace to go > > OUTSIDE, not via the shack/structure. Not just for noise but the > > voltages can be astoundingly high with enough amperage to cause harm. > > > > [A local puts his feeds in a glass jar then is amused at the glow of > > discharge, contained. But that is FAR from the only wire exposed. > > > > These are complex topics that few can translate well to low dollars > > (hams) and better understanding. > > > > It would have been fun to draw on that lunch crowd discussion. > > > > The only true axiom is that if you don't have enough shunting, lightning > > will be happy to show you what you missed. (Antenna didn't fall over? > > It's not big enough!). > > > > 73 Bill, > > Rick nk7i > > > > > > On 7/28/2023 3:36 PM, Dr. William J. Schmidt wrote: > > > I worked at Honeywell defense systems in the early 80's and I had two > > guys (Ph.D's from MIT) working in the office next to me that were experts > > in Meteorology... specifically the study of lightning. I would eat lunch > > with them because they were "interesting" to say the least. When they > > found out I was a ham and asking them about lightning protection they > > laughed hysterically. Over their tenure they schooled me on my lack of > > knowledge in their area and beat into me immense gravity and consequences > > of a major lightning strike. Imaginable voltages and currents. You can > > prepare but you will never be sure. > > > > > > Static is something else. All of the antennas I design and implement > > have GROUNDED elements or static chokes to ground to reduce static to a > > minimum. You learn this with experience. > > > > > > > > > Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net < > elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net> > > On Behalf Of Rick NK7I > > > Sent: Friday, July 28, 2023 4:42 PM > > > To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [OT] A dumb question about lightning > > > > > > Not often (enough) does a ham have a 100'+ tower either. 😉 > > > > > > THE standard (of way so many to choose from) is from the cell phone > > industry (Motorola mostly). It's insanely complex but if you're on a > > mountain top and need 100% reliability; ideal. The costs, will be a > second > > mortgage so some compromises will have to happen. > > > > > > Here is a better link to the current (newest edition) of the ARRL book; > > at least a good starting point for a baseline understanding. Direct > hits, > > no matter what system/s used, will always show what you missed or didn't > do > > enough to mitigate. > > > > > > https://a.co/d/01vRC1W > > > > > > Another aspect is static reduction. That comes from wind, rain, dust, > > snow, anything that passes by the structure. Shunt all to ground OUTside > > the building is the best approach. (Base of the tower/mast and again at > > structure entry; make EVERYTHING at the same ground potential, inside and > > out. When you take a hit, that potential rises, equally if all is done > > well; it's the difference in potential that harms.) > > > > > > 73, > > > Rick nk7i > > > > > > On 7/28/2023 2:31 PM, Dr. William J. Schmidt wrote: > > >> Even the methods in that book are considered sub-standard by the > > broadcast industry... The only think that is a sure bet is to completely > > disconnect your radio and put it back in the shipping box. > > >> > > >> > > >> Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ J68HZ > > >> > > >> email: b...@wjschmidt.com > > >> > > >> > > >> -----Original Message----- > > >> From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net > > >> <elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net> > > >> Sent: Friday, July 28, 2023 4:14 PM > > >> To: j...@kk9a.com > > >> Cc: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > >> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [OT] A dumb question about lightning > > >> > > >> > > >> > https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwiOk5PAqLKA > > >> AxUjEa0GHYmDBJgYABACGgJwdg&ae=2&ohost=www.google.com > &cid=CAASJORo_AZEA > > >> zrEwZh7d0CRaunieFV8dsSC3IDZqsPWbucgX_uNKQ&sig=AOD64_1qxgTjvgwY4_QbQuPW > > >> 5KxSnoObmA&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwiEsI3AqLKAAxViAjQIHe9mC-UQ0Qx6BAgOEAE > > >> > > >> Welcome to the Bible of grounding. It’ll take several reads to grasp > > what you have to do. > > >> > > >> 73, > > >> Rick NK7I > > >> > > >> > > >>> On Jul 28, 2023, at 2:11 PM, j...@kk9a.com wrote: > > >>> > > >>> I would recommend that you follow proper lightning bonding/grounding > > >>> techniques, these are the only methods that work. My tower has taken > > >>> a number of lighting strikes. You cannot prevent a lightning strike. > > >>> Simply disconnecting your feedling will not prevent damage inside > > >>> your house as the voltage from a strike will be induced into your > > home's electrical wires. > > >>> > > >>> John KK9A > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> Al Lorona W6LX wrote: > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> Please don't laugh at me; I'm a transplant from a region of the > > >>> country with essentially no lightning to a region where you have to > > >>> worry about it quite a bit. > > >>> > > >>> We had a doozy of a storm last night, with lots of lightning > overhead. > > >>> I felt like a sitting duck, even though I had grounded both sides of > > >>> the balanced feedline of the antenna, switched the antenna switch to > > >>> the middle > > >>> (grounded) position, and even disconnected the coax leading to the > > >>> K3's rear-panel antenna port. > > >>> > > >>> Whenever lightning happens, I always wonder if it really is in fact > > >>> better to ground everything. Because, doesn't that essentially make a > > >>> lightning rod of the antenna? If I simply disconnected the antenna > > >>> and left it floating, wouldn't it be less likely to attract a > > lightning bolt? > > >>> > > >>> I'm of the belief that it's better to try to avoid a direct hit than > > >>> to attract one and trust your grounding system to do its thing. I'm > > >>> of the belief that no grounding system is perfectly effective. > > >>> > > >>> Al W6LX/4 > > >>> > > >>> ______________________________________________________________ > > >>> 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 > > >>> rick.n...@gmail.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 > > >> b...@wjschmidt.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 > > >> rick.n...@gmail.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 b...@wjschmidt.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 rick.n...@gmail.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 wa6...@gmail.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 wa8...@gmail.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
