[TowerTalk] Lightning GROUND switch wanted

[Tom Rauch]

> Do you really think that lightning would follow the relay 
> contacts to ground and not arc across to the other side?

With the correct relay and the proper layout it could.

I have dozens of feedlines and three telephone cables (one of them 
is 2500 feet long) entering my shack, and I use relays to 
disconnect critical equipment.

The key is in the layout, and the design of the relay. You need 
relays with shorting bar contacts (similar to form X contacts) that 
tie the shorting bar to ground when de-energized. The relay has to 
be on a suitable groundplane, and leads have to be routed properly.

A cheaper alternative is a microphone-type multipin connector, or a 
DIN connector for low current or Cinch-Jones type connectors for 
high current higher voltage, but if you want a relay it is workable 
with proper layout, relay selection, and grounding.

The new RCS-10 Smart Control System has DIN connectors so it 
can be unplugged.
73, Tom W8JI
w8ji@contesting.com

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