[TowerTalk] Broken Johnny-ball insulators

[Roger D Johnson]

Cqtestk4xs at aol.com wrote:

   I have heard tales of people hearing snapping and
> popping at the insulators as storms approach on broadcast towers.  I would 
> imagine it happens on a grander scale from a lightning hit on the tower.  Perhaps 
> multiple hits over a period of time, especially in lightning prone areas, 
> could cause the damage as N4ZR and I have observed.

When I reported for duty at USCG LORAN Station, Caribou, Me, the CO let 
me park my motor home at their picnic area while we were house hunting.
The LORAN antenna was a wire skeleton cone supported by 4 700ft towers
in a square. During thunderstorms, it sounded like a shooting gallery
as the lightning arced across all the guy wire insulators! It scared my
wife silly, but I realized that we were safely inside a gigantic Faraday
cage.

73, Roger



-- 
Remember the USS Liberty (AGTR-5)
http://ussliberty.org/