Yesterday we had a severe thunderstorm episode, with significant
cloud-to-ground lightning nearby. All my coax and control lines were
disconnected, but when one particularly close strike occurred, an arc
jumped across the open SO-239 on my entry panel. No damage in the
shack, fortunately, but it set me wondering.
1. Does it make sense to put a shorting plug at the shack end of a coax
cable? With my Ameritron RCS-10 relay box, putting a shorted PL-259 in
position 1 on the relay box has the same effect when the control cable
is disconnected, except at the tower end. A better idea?
2. Ameritron makes a "lightning-protected" version of the RCS-10,
called the RCS-10L. From the parts list (no schematic) it appears that
the only added component is a gas tube, rated at 1500V, 10 KA. I
presume this is across the output of the relay box coming to the shack.
Again, good idea?
--
73, Pete N4ZR
The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at www.conteststations.com
The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net, blog at
reversebeacon.blogspot.com,
spots at telnet.reversebeacon.net, port 7000
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