[TowerTalk] lightning and insulated elements..

[Ian White GM3SEK]

Peter Chadwick wrote:
>At one time, lightning arrestors with radio active tips were used, the 
>idea being that the extra ionisation would attract the
>lightning bolt to the arrestor rather than teh building inteneded to be 
>protected. Whether the efficacy or otherwise was ever
>proved is another matter.

No, the extra ionisation was too localised to make any dramatic 
difference. What they did find was radioactively contaminated rainwater 
running down lightning conductors... and if one of the radioactive tips 
ever was hit by lightning, guess what happened then?

They ended up in my former employer's museum of dumb things to do with 
radioactivity.



-- 
73 from Ian GM3SEK