MORE ON AC ARRESTER LOCATION

Thu Sep 8 14:01:59 EDT 1994

Another Eric, N7CL, writes:

Eric,

I'm prety sure that you don't want the main breaker to open when the
arrestor _operates_.  You may, however, very well want the breaker in line
to operate if the arrester _fails_ (shorted).  But...

For the breaker to open during a lightning fault when the arrester is
operating it would have to open far enough to quench the lightning arc to
be effective.  Since this is impractical, it would simply mean the
destruction of the breaker.  For this reason, the arrester is designed to
short during a fault, open immediately after the fault clears, and if the
arrester fails short, it is designed so that excessive power dissipation
inside the arrester causes a subsequent failure of the arrester to the open
state.  Some even have an indicator to alert you to the fact that this has
happened.  Most will take thousands of faults of average energy before they
fail to an open state.

So the proper place for the primary entry surge arrester is on the line
side of the breakers (may as well protect the breakers too).

73,  Eric  N7CL

********************************************************************

Boy is he right!

I spent some time with the Joslyn Engineer yesterday (again, GO AGGIES)
and we visted several sites that had a questionable ac protection
scheme.  We discussed the suppresser failure modes and operating
indications in the middle of a tomato field next to the old VOA relay
station in Dixon. (Another long story goes here)

Today, I reiterated the above to my headquarters support engineer in the
Bay Area and we agreed (thanks to concurrance from our friendly Ph D
Bellcore resource) that the I-T curve of the suppresser during operation
would probably not coordinate with the I-T curve of the breaker.  In
other words, the breaker will probably not trip when the suppresser
fires during a brief lightning type event.

Longer duration events will eventually cause the suppresser to fail
open, due to internal fuse or relay design, and the trigger that
something  happened would be the fact that the suppresser's indication
lights would be extiguished, or the alarm relay would operate.  Older
non-alarmed types would show open the old fashioned way (maybe) by
exhibiting physical signs of catastrophic failure (hand grenade or
remember your first attempt at building a KW power supply?).

So..........lets credit Mr. Gustafson N7CL with some terrific, timely
advice.

Erics are always right, anyway.  Just BO didn't know failure modes.

CU Saturday NCCC CW Sprint.  Eric NV6O edwoods at pacbell.com

>From Eugene Walsh <0004504465 at mcimail.com>  Thu Sep  8 19:37:00 1994
From: Eugene Walsh <0004504465 at mcimail.com> (Eugene Walsh)
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 94 13:37 EST
Subject: UA style onsite championships
Message-ID: <11940908183711/0004504465PK4EM at mcimail.com>

     Dick, N6AA asked about UA style onsite championships.

     This was going to be sent to N6AA, but I thought
others might be interested.  If not, just ignore it.

     On August 18, 1991 (Yes, the day before!) myself
and KE7V were guests (Thanks mainly to the efforts of
UW9AR [UA9BA] but also in part to UW3FH, RA9AD and many 
others) at the 1991 Soviet All-Star (Onsite) Contest in 
Leningrad.  I believe, but I am not sure, that we were 
the first foreigners to be present at one of these events.  
There was high level opposition.

     Since we had arrived from Siberia on the 17th, and
enjoyed chronic lack of sleep as well as seriously lubricated
welcomes and meeting old friends, the data collection was
somewhat hampered.  I relate some of what I remember.

1) About 25 or 30 stations competed.  One team from each
participating Oblast.  The selection of the teams was done
by a system of ratings involving results of contest 
performance through the year (Probably mostly domestic).
This was a top level contest, a minimum level of performance
being necessary to compete.  I do not know the details of
requirements.

2) The stations were mostly in tents.  The UC1OWA
(UC7O) gang was in the back of a truck.

3) I believe everyone supplied their own tents.

4) The teams were responsible for the complete set up.
I believe that 2 additional members were allowed to 
participate in the set up.  Several Oblasts had 4 people 
present, and some only 2.  Only operators and judges 
were at the sites during the contest.

5) Everyone brought their own equipment.

6) Only 1 station was allowed.  There is a power limit,
probably 100 watts.  There is a weight limit for all
equipment and stuff.

7) The antennas were all identical, UA1DZ design, and
the teams were responsible for setting them up.  This
was a new wrinkle.  When UA1DZ was living, no one ever 
saw his design, it was one of his secret weapons.
Previous contests required that the participants bring
their own antennas (Within a weight limit for all equipment).

8) The contest started at midnight on the 18th and ran
(I believe) for 12 hours.  The stations were set up 
in the afternoon before the contest.

9) Schedules are forbidden.  All efforts were made to keep
the call signs of individual groups secret.  Judges  are
present (And QSX) in every tent, and everything is taped.

10) The logs are scrutinized very, very carefully.
As mentioned above, Judges are present in every tent,
and everything is recorded.  The results were presented at
a banquet on the evening of the 19th, about 32 hours after
the end of the contest (Alot of the talk covered events of
the day!).  We heard no mention of scores before the dinner,
although due to the historic events of the day people were
generally preoccupied with their future.

11) We walked around visiting several stations, since we were
not allowed to operate as originally scheduled (Another story, 
sometime perhaps).  They were about 100 yards apart, perhaps 
more.  The locations were all pretty equal, as the event took 
place in a large, flat open field outside of Leningrad.  The 
equipment is pre-tested for cleanliness, being submitted at 
some earlier time for measurements.  Unacceptable equipment 
is NOT allowed to be used in any of these events.  

12) I believe that the rules are simple, describing general
behavior rather than specific situations.  You must sign
your call with every QSO and you must read back corrected
calls (CQ DE R1ABC; r1abc de ua0qba; UA0QBT 599ETC K; 599etc
de ua0qba qba k; UA0QBA R TU DE R1ABC).  Great rules!

13) No doubt about the winners, everyone saluted them.
The winners were: 1- UB5I (RB5IM & UB5IOK).  
2- UA9W (RA9WR & RW9WA) and 3-UA3A (RV3AG & UW3AA). 
There have been some people who were very prominent 
over many years in these championships (Such as UA1DZ 
and UW3AA).

14) This is right off the top of my head (Probably some 
errors); I will review the video tapes some time this 
week and comment further if warranted.

     There was an emergency medical team on the site,
with an ambulance, just in case of need.  

     This contest was run by "Radio" Magazine.  Others 
have been run by CRC and RSF.  There are numerous onsite
competitions during the year (One was held this past 
weekend during the LZ contest, if you heard any of those
R6A-- calls they were the participants).

     This was quite an experience, especially considering 
that a few years before, there was no hope of ever even 
meeting these people.  

     More detailed information may possibly be supplied by 
Willy, UA9BA (Who was a member of RSF), and Andy, UA3DPX, 
who is contest manager for the new Russian Amateur Radio 
Organization (Who are both on this forum).      

73 de Gene N2AA

>From Eugene Walsh <0004504465 at mcimail.com>  Thu Sep  8 19:37:00 1994
From: Eugene Walsh <0004504465 at mcimail.com> (Eugene Walsh)
Date: Thu, 8 Sep 94 13:37 EST
Subject: UA style onsite championships
Message-ID: <11940908183711/0004504465PK4EM at mcimail.com>

     Dick, N6AA asked about UA style onsite championships.

     This was going to be sent to N6AA, but I thought
others might be interested.  If not, just ignore it.

     On August 18, 1991 (Yes, the day before!) myself
and KE7V were guests (Thanks mainly to the efforts of
UW9AR [UA9BA] but also in part to UW3FH, RA9AD and many 
others) at the 1991 Soviet All-Star (Onsite) Contest in 
Leningrad.  I believe, but I am not sure, that we were 
the first foreigners to be present at one of these events.  
There was high level opposition.

     Since we had arrived from Siberia on the 17th, and
enjoyed chronic lack of sleep as well as seriously lubricated
welcomes and meeting old friends, the data collection was
somewhat hampered.  I relate some of what I remember.