Re: Topband: Polyphaser IS-50UX-CO vs ICE Model 303?
Could that not be said of any inline protection then? Almost, anything but a disconnect. Also, while we sometimes go wild with grounds, nearly ALL of the protection (or lack of protection) comes from how things are bonded and common grounded going into the protected area. I can't stress the point that a proper entrance and proper ground bonding, so everything rises together without high current loops through equipment, is nearly 100% of actual protection. My towers take at least one hit in every lightning storm, and other than RF ground radials on my four square area, I have no fantastic grounds. My 318 foot tower has eight deep-buried number 6 or 8 gauge copper radials about 50-100 feet long, interspersed with around thirty #16 shallow bare wires from when I fed the tower as a vertical. It has only a few ground rods. http://www.w8ji.com/Antenna%20grounds.htm The house has a buried perimeter conductor, but almost no ground rods. I never have lightning damage inside buildings. Not one piece of consumer gear has ever been damaged. Never lost a modem. Despite what we sometimes hear, nearly all protection comes from how entrances are constructed and bonded. The worse thing in the world is an entrance ground that is not connected to the power mains ground. 73 Tom _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Polyphaser IS-50UX-CO vs ICE Model 303?
On Sun Jan 20 01:58:14 2013, Cecil wrote: The polyphasers are good protectors but be aware that they rely on gas tubes for protection and their failure mode is one that leaves you unknowingly unprotected. After so many ionizations the gas tube will fail and won't clamp on the next strike. For a time Polyphaser made a test set to verify the function of the gas tube. We use those at work to test those in use once a year and every year we find a few that have failed. Polyphaser quit selling the test set (FIST4) several years back so one will need to find another way to test themmaybe a meggar. Cecil K5DL 'snip' Topband Reflector Cecil, That's a good point. About a year ago I was having problems with my Steppir..after replacing coax, doing lot's of testing on the Steppir control box I started replacing all items along the path and discovered the PP on the grounded copper board at the base of the tower had gone 'south'... 73 Tom _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Polyphaser IS-50UX-CO vs ICE Model 303?
On 1/20/2013 1:40 AM, cx...@4email.net wrote: I started replacing all items along the path and discovered the PP on the grounded copper board at the base of the tower had gone 'south'... Several points here. First, there is no value to lightning suppression at the base of a tower unless that tower is next to the shack. A lightning suppressor shorts the center conductor to the shield to protect equipment that the coax feeds. It is most effective very near the equipment. Second, lightning protection depends very strongly on proper bonding together of all the equipment and wiring in your home, to each other, and to all earth connections. That means EVERYTHING. Caps for emphasis added. Third, while I have no practical way of knowing when Polyphasers have failed open, I have experienced at least four occasions of Polyphasers failing shorted. On at least two of those occasions the cause of the failure has been very high voltage at the Polyphaser, most recently caused by the 40M element of my 80/40 fan breaking in a windstorm and hitting with legal limit power before I had figured that out. It should be possible to restore the Polyphaser to new condition by replacing the gas tube if a source for the tube (including its spec) can be found. 73, Jim K9YC _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Polyphaser IS-50UX-CO vs ICE Model 303?
The polyphasers are good protectors but be aware that they rely on gas tubes for protection and their failure mode is one that leaves you unknowingly unprotected. After so many ionizations the gas tube will fail and won't clamp on the next strike. For a time Polyphaser made a test set to verify the function of the gas tube. We use those at work to test those in use once a year and every year we find a few that have failed. Polyphaser quit selling the test set (FIST4) several years back so one will need to find another way to test themmaybe a meggar. They don't only fail high. They fail low too. One of the more common damage failures in high power amplifiers is running them in systems with lightning protection gas tubes that fire at lower than planned voltage. That can really tear things up if the lightning protection device is the right distance away to reflect the wrong impedance at the amplifier output port. Such devices have limited value anyway. If they let a few kilowatts of energy out, they will let enough back in to tear things up. _ Topband Reflector
Re: Topband: Polyphaser IS-50UX-CO vs ICE Model 303?
Hello Tom, I have Polyphaser and I.C.E. units on all my cables ( Antenna and all Control ). I installed them in 1991 after several strikes damaged my Tranceivers. Since then, I have had no problems. The most important is a good Grounding System. A couple of ground rods won't do the trick. 73..Price W0RI near Saint Louis, MO. Subject: Topband: Polyphaser IS-50UX-CO vs ICE Model 303? Hello, Am in the process of running underground coax/control cables to DXE UE-1P Grounding and Utility box IOT run 40m V dipole and topband inverted L/FCP. I have had the Polyphaser 50UX in the HF system since 2008 and it has worked wellI have two each of PP and ICE in the radio closet and wonder which the group would recommend over the other. The reason the HF system has the PP is that they arrived before the ICE units. What has been your experience/advice? 73 Tom CX7TT aka CW7T _ Topband Reflector _ Topband Reflector
