Topband: Lightning and Beverages

[Tom Rauch]

> Every summer I go out and inspect these terminating resistors of my
> three beverages and they are always gone - blown to bits.  There is no
> sign of carbon, just wire leads hanging there. They must get a lot of
> induction when lightning strikes the area.

Use a reasonably close-spaced spark gap across the resistors (making 
absolutely sure you use composition resistors of course). Same at the 
transformer end. 

One simple way to do that at the resistor is to solder a shorting 
wire across each resistor. After the resistor is in place, snip the 
shorting wire with cutters so there is a slight sharp gap. 73, Tom 
W8JI
W8JI@contesting.com