Thanks Scott. Well, last summer, my Omni VI+ was in that parade.
Fortunately, though I don't think my insurance company knows
diddly about ham radio, they paid with no problem. Perhaps that's
because the Omni repair was only a part of the over $3000 worth of
damage that we had to computers, stereos, TV's, you name it. Very
little electronic gear in the house escaped damage. This was not
even a direct hit, it was just somewhere nearby.
My radio was disconnected from antennas ground and AC mains but
there was one thing I missed. There was a connection from the Omni
to my computer. I thought that was OK because the computer was
also unplugged. But, I forgot the phone line which was connected
through a supposed surge protector. Apparently the surge protector
was useless because the computer was also fried and now sports a
new motherboard, processor, modem and sound card.
----
73, Rich - W3ZJ
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-tentec@contesting.com
> [mailto:owner-tentec@contesting.com]On
> Behalf Of Ten-Tec Inc. Amateur Radio Sales
> Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001 13:06 PM
> To: tentec@contesting.com
> Subject: [TenTec] Re: grounding
>
>
>
> I've been reading all the grounding discussion here and
> just want to
> add another comment about lightning strikes and equipment damage
> from the "other side".
>
> 1) It is inevitable that if you live somewhere where
> there are thunderstorms,
> there will be lightning strikes at some point that are
> close enough to your
> ham station to damage or destroy equipment.
>
> 2) Every year starting in the spring, the slow parade
> of lightning damaged
> equipment sent to us for repair and/or evaluation
> begins. Make sure
> you have insurance, and make sure your insurance
> carrier understands
> ham radio equipment. Countless times we've heard
> stories of battles
> with insurance companies over fixing and/or replacing lightning
> damaged ham gear. I've also heard plenty of them that are a
> variation of "gee, I called them right up and they paid
> it off without
> any difficulty". This usually boils down to how well
> informed your
> agent is prior to you having a claim.
>
> 3) Unhook everything when you leave the radio room!
> Yes, this is
> an enormous hassle. I agree. I do it every time I
> leave the radio
> room. We do it every time we walk out the door at Ten-Tec to
> leave work for the day. This summer, when the vertical
> antenna on
> the lawn at Ten-Tec took a lightning strike....no
> equipment damaged!
>
> 4) Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by
> having everything
> "grounded". Lightning loves ground - and anything
> connected to it.
> We've seen transceivers completely destroyed that were connected
> to nothing other than RF ground at the time of a
> lightning strike.
>
> Spring is coming - let's all keep our equipment (and
> ourselves) intact!
>
> 73
> Scott Robbins, W4PA
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
> Ten-Tec, Inc., 1185 Dolly Parton Pkwy, Sevierville, TN
> 37862 USA
> Contact Mon-Fri Eastern: Office/Tech (865) 453-7172 9
> am-5 pm.
> Repair (865) 428-0364 8-4. Sales (800) 833-7373 9 am-5:30 pm.
> Fax (865) 428-4483 24 hrs. Visit us at
<http://www.tentec.com>
--->--->---> Please note: E-mail <sales@tentec.com> for sales
and general product info only. We presently do not offer
repair, parts, or kit building tech support by electronic mail,
please telephone (865) 428-0364 or (865) 453-7172.
Ten-Tec manufactures amateur radio equipment, military and com-
mercial use HF radio equipment, custom aluminum and steel
enclosures and has an on-premises, fully equipped tool and die
facility supplying metal and plastic injection mold industries.
Potential tool and die, custom enclosure or communications
electronics customer? Contact us with your needs.
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/tentec
Submissions: tentec@contesting.com
Administrative requests: tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-tentec@contesting.com
--
FAQ on WWW: http://www.contesting.com/FAQ/tentec
Submissions: tentec@contesting.com
Administrative requests: tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems: owner-tentec@contesting.com
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