[SEDXC] LIGHTNING

K4PI.Mike Greenway K4PI at BELLSOUTH.NET
Thu Mar 25 17:51:08 EDT 2021


Since we are moving into that time of the year I read something funny 
but sad at the same time.

*/Just a word to those who tell us that they are safe from lightning 
because they always disconnect the coax from their equipment. When asked 
what they do with the disconnected line(s), they usually respond that it 
is placed on the floor. Now if you stop and think about the last few 
thousand feet that the lightning has jumped, you can see the fallacy of 
their thinking. _In fact, they made it worse_ since arcing involves 
ignition temperature plasmas inside your house./_/True, the radio may 
still work, if it survives the house fire./_ Throwing the coax out the 
window is not a solution, especially if the coax has already entered the 
house from the antenna or the antenna is roof mounted without a ground 
path. Grounding switches will not last long with direct hits unless 
other good ground paths are provided. Grounding the antenna line and not 
disconnecting the coax shield can still allow strike energy to be shared 
with the equipment The shield connects to the chassis and if a single 
point ground is not present with power/telephone protectors, the 
equipment will be damaged.*



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