[TowerTalk] Which is worse

[Craig Clark]

>
>Which would be more damaging: Induced voltage or a direct strike?
>
>73, Bill W6WRT
>

Bill

That is a hard question to answer due to the capricious nature of lightning.

As an example, last week, we had a near field hit, within 100 yards.

I have a ground wire going from the station ground to the service 
panel that parallels one of my phone lines. When the hit occurred, 
our home phone line went out. I found that the phone line had arced 
to ground (the copper wire was blackened) and was broken.  We also 
lost the surround sound unit.

When lightning hits a home square on, fire is the biggest danger IF 
there is no safe way to shunt as much energy as possible to 
ground.  That's why many homes have lightning rods. Add to that EMP 
damage and there is a greater chance of catastrophic loss with a direct hit.

That said, near field hits can induce lots of energy in to a home 
through phone lines, power lines as well as the home wiring, speaker 
wiring, computer cables, you name it, any wire can be an antenna.

I would venture a guess, most home lightning damage is from EMP and 
induced voltage.  The most catastrophic damage comes from a direct hit.





73, Craig Clark, K1QX


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