Lightning.

[force12 at ibm.net]

Dear Friends,

Let me start this humlbe missive with the comment that I truly believe that there exists in the 
vast genetic code a small microscopic protoplasmic mechanism that establishes a subtle 
predisposition to lightning strikes.

As an example....When I was a young lad, my Dad used to love to tell me the story about his 
experience with a lightning strike that (per Dad) burned his pants and singed his hair, but 
otherwise left him unscathed.   Well Dad's number 3 son --- ME--- has had more than his share of 
lighning stories.

While I was in high school and playing in a summer baseball league, I was positioned at first 
base and witnessed our pitcher get fried by a lightning bolt that wanted to pass through the 
pitching rubber.  Poor Dale was left lifeless and quite disfigured by that blow.   Later on 
while in college, I came home one early Sat. morning to find my parents home in ashes as it was 
hit by lightning and promptly burned down before the erstwhile volunteer fire department could 
arrive.

Of course that same house had been hit twice while I lived in it!
 
As an adult, I found myself living in the Peninsula just south of San Francisco in California.  
One early Spring while the Bay Area was having a very rare thunder storm (about 1 every 3 years) 
my tower took a direct hit while we were all sleeping.  The hit managed to do about $25,000 
damage and took its toll in shattered nerves and destroyed wiring and equipment!

Well I finally moved to Ithaca on top of a hill and it took less than one year before my first 
direct hit.  However, thanks to Polyphaser and ICE I had minimal damage to my installation.  I 
was standing on the porch with my son Joshua and I noticed in very quick progression that the 
top of tower had a blue/green ball that soon enveloped all the tower and with the enormous clap 
I had my first NY state lighning hit.  The only damage that I had was some of the galvanizing 
had been blown off the tower.  My antennas were not bothered at all!

My installation in NY has 3 10' ground rods outside the base of the tower and bonded with a 
large copper strap.  This is all tied together to a 120' length of the same strap that goes to 
the nearby wetlands and is connected to another 10' ground rod.  I then have ICE boxes for the 
coax lines and the rotor cables.  The coax is also connected to an Alpha Delta-4 coax switch.  
Just prior to this storm and for all others, I disconnected the coax from the radios and pulled 
the plug on all the AC sources.  It actually worked.  Read the stuff from Polyphaser as they 
seem to have a good handle on what happens.

Moral --- be prepared to do what is needed to protect your CONTEST STATION and as soon as 
genetic engineering science progresses...I am going to have a gene job!

73s

Natan, W6XR/2