[TowerTalk] Lighting

[Keith Dutson]

Thanks for the detail.  That makes sense.  I made a similar observation on
my tower but not with a meter.  The hair on my head stood up! :)

I believe charge transfers such as this have been well documented in the
past.  It can be caused by clouds that do not have sufficient charge to
cause an arc (lightning bolt).  But it can be found anywhere, not just
around a tower base.

Keith 

-----Original Message-----
From: jeff millar [mailto:wa1hco at adelphia.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 10:59 PM
To: keith at dutson.net
Cc: '(Reflector) TowerTalk'
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Lighting

While visiting Chuck, WA1EKV and looking at his 100 Ft tower on a hill with
a comb of sharp points on top and 3 large ground leads at the bottom, he
told me that he once heard hissing from the top of the tower during a time
of dark clouds. He then measured the current in one of the ground lines with
a clip-on DC ammeter and found 100 Amps....implying a sustained 300 Amps
total bleeding from the cloud to ground.

I don't know if thats enough to bleed off the charge and prevent a strike.
It's just an anecdotal data point.

jeff, wa1hco

Keith Dutson wrote:

>>My "gradually and constantly bleeding off the charge" scenario takes 
>>place
>>    
>>
>before that, before the storm arrives.
>
>I don't get it.  Exactly what is bleeding off before the storm arrives?
>
>Keith
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: towertalk-bounces at contesting.com
>[mailto:towertalk-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jerry Keller
>Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 10:25 PM
>To: Tom Rauch
>Cc: (Reflector) TowerTalk; ke3q at msn.com
>Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Lighting
>
>OK, one more try!  Your example describes the cloud as already over the 
>tower. My "gradually and constantly bleeding off the charge" scenario 
>takes place before that, before the storm arrives. In my scenario, the 
>tower area rarely gets enough charge built up to be attractive. When 
>the stormcloud arrives, the area around the tower is already 
>"discharged", maybe even to a greater degree than other surrounding 
>areas, so it looks less attractive to the charge in the cloud. That's 
>what I call a sort of "prevention", but it's really just making the tower a
less likely target.
><snip>
>
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