[TowerTalk] spider balls.. they work

[Norman Hockler]

Ok, here is what I have observed.

In the 40's as a teenager I was crew on a wooden 100 ft sailing ship every 
summer for 8 years.
We saw St. Elmos fire all the time.  It would shoot out from the spar ends 
and screw
or bolt ends.

About the 3rd or 4th year the owner bought some spider balls ( they were 
called spline balls.)  and they were installed on
the mast head of the fore and main masts.

The result was most of the St Elmo fire was dissipated by them and very 
little could be observed from the spar ends.

Would this result in lowering the likely hood of a lightning strike on my 
tower...... who knows.... but it did move most of the discharges
to the "sharp pointy spline balls"

Norm Hockler
N8NH