[TowerTalk] Why Rain static is worse on the top antenna.

[Guy Olinger, K2AV]

Not being able to reply for a while does not mean I agree. There are 
some repeatable observations that need to be taken into account, and 
in this thread and the others from it, these observations do not seem 
to be addressed, as neither are they addressed by you.

Calling someone else's argument "folklore" does not constitute 
technical argument. The last time I looked, you also belong to the 
class "folk" and you also are providing accounts of things that have 
happened.

I have merely pointed out that one aspect of this consternation is 
explained by the ground and antennas carrying a greater charge than 
the medium IN THE CASE OF THE RAIN/SNOW STATIC PARTICULARLY, that the 
common conversations about this particular case seem to have the 
supply and demand reversed.

Observation 1: Tower 1 with beam A at 130' and beam B at 80'. Tower 2 
with beam C at 80'. The precip static (or WHATEVER it actually is in 
the eyes of the Creator) is all over beam A and beam C while beam B is 
barely affected. The effect is not related to height per se, at least 
not at these common ham antenna heights.

Observation 1A: It is clear that beam B gets just as much snow or rain 
hitting it as beams A and C. If the snow or rain or surrounding humid 
air, whatever, is carrying or shepherding the charge which dissipates 
onto the grounded antennas then why does Beam B not noise up.

Observation 2: The noise is there while rain or snow is falling. Noise 
stops when the snow or rain stops. Noise starts up again when rain or 
snow resumes. If it's not the snow or rain, whatever it is does not 
occur without the snow or rain.

Observation 3: Clean dry wind has never caused the noise we associate 
with rain or snow anywhere I've been. While I have been kicked on my 
a** as apparently have you by wind building up a charge on an 
ungrounded antenna, the same 50 mph clear sky dry wind out of the NW 
did NOT cause the noise we associate with rain or snow.

I have not been in a dusty wind since I was a child in New Mexico, and 
cannot comment. I wonder whether a dusty wind would spare beam B in 
the situation above. E.g. that the charge was being carried on the 
dust and ALL metallics connected to ground were fair game for 
discharge.

These simple observations have been reported by many other hams. The 
explanations need to take them all into account. Beam B is the monkey 
wrench.

Something is acting as a charge sink for the charged up antennas, and 
it's either the snow or rain, or something directly associated with 
it, or both.

Regards,
Guy.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Rauch" <w8ji at contesting.com>

> I'm afraid that doesn't work very well either Guy. Folklore
> has caused us to ignoring what we easily can observe
> repeating over and over again.
>
> If the noise was from droplets, dust, or snowflakes the
> noise we hear would have a pitch directly related to the
> number of drops hitting the tower and an intensity directly
> related the size of those particles and the charge gradient.
> If you listen carefully to the noise while watching outside,
> you'll see that just doesn't happen at all.