Jeff DePolo wrote: > You should have said "I'm Nate Duehr, and I approve this message."
Hahaha.. nice. Actually I am wholeheartedly glad the folks working on our systems out here did "all of the above" on all of them, long ago -- in the 2nd highest lightning strike number State in the Union. We haven't had much recent damage. Thor has done some wicked things to stuff I've seen out here, even with all of that done... Our 220 MHz repeater has some nifty burn marks on the front of its case from a strike in the 1990's that literally blew the plugs out of a power strip on the AC side, and then found it's way to ground as ball lightning inside the cabinet, through the grounded chassis of the 220 MHz repeater. Another friend's system had an 8-bay DB folded-dipole that stopped working properly -- they decided to take a look. Arc-weld marks at top and in the middle to the steel frame of the AT&T Long Lines type tower, even with all the protection gear. The holes in the DB and its mast were pronounced, and "drippy" looking melted spots on a couple of the arrays themselves were evident. When they took it down to take a closer look, (and to put up the spare DB) the two sections were welded together. Other stories from folks who've worked with fiberglass stick type antennas, reveal that they rarely survive visits from Thor, but as one ham out here described it... "At first I couldn't figure out what all the bits of white stuff were all over the top of the mountain under the tower, until I realized the antenna was no longer there. What was left of the Station Master fit nicely into a very small trash bag." Nate WY0X
