on 12/12/02 12:05 AM, n4kg@juno.com at n4kg@juno.com wrote:
> So much for hitting the tallest objects around...
>
> (Thank Goodness ! )
>
> Any ideas why?
Yeah, it's all about where the potential can build up. Like I said, if you
can make your antenna/tower look as much like ground as possible and prevent
any charge from building up on it, you are less likely to take a strike.
Lightning is going to occur at the point where it is easiest for the charge
cloud in the sky and the charge cloud at some ground point can most easily
break down or ionize the air between them. Keeping your antennas at earth
ground or as close as possible will minimize that chance. So even though,
you were a "higher" object visibly, you were not electrically.
This may not be a 100% correct technical explanation, but it certainly gets
most of the way there.
One purpose of a lightning system is not just to be able to take hits, but
to be able to avoid getting hit all together. To not get hit is the safest
protection.
73,
Jon
NA9D
-------------------------------------
Jon Ogden
NA9D (ex: KE9NA)
Citizen of the People's Democratic Republik of Illinois
Life Member: ARRL, NRA
Member: AMSAT, DXCC
http://www.qsl.net/na9d
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
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