I saw that on the news this morning and figured it must be a joke. Or,
maybe the political news is getting so stale that they dreamed up another
sensational story. :)
AFAIK it takes about one million volts to jump an inch arc in air at STP.
However, once a path is established, such as ionized air, the required
potential drops drastically. Perhaps the bird hit one line and left a trail
of blood in the air to a second line whereby the arc could form.
Keith
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Bill VanAlstyne
Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 11:54 AM
To: _Mailing List Tower-Talk
Subject: [TowerTalk] Power lines, hawks,and fire ignition (slightly
off-topic)
I couldn't help but wonder at this snippet from an AP newswire article in
this morning's paper regarding how the Santa Clarita wildfire in California
supposedly started: "[The wildfire] was ignited when a red-tailed hawk flew
into a power line, was electrocuted and fell, burning, into brush."
I know some of you guys on this list are extremely knowledgeable about the
basic physics of electromagnetism. Could somebody please explain how a
single high-tension AC wire can ignite a hawk? (Yuck.) Where does the
current flow -- I mean, between what and what?
Bill / W5WVO
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
Weather Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any
questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
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http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
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