Posted: 7/30/2012 2:24:15 PM EDT
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Had a nice thunder storm come through late yesterday... I do not yet have a lightning protection system installed, so I am overly careful with unplugging stuff at the first rumble of thunder.
Unplugged the coax and just dropped it on the floor... A little while later, a very close clap of lightning and I heard what sounded like the unmistakable sound of an arc... rapid tik tik tik... looked down and the antenna connector was laying an eighth of an inch away from a metal filing cabinet... I'm thinking, no way, must have been my imagination... but the wife heard it too.... Well.. just found out that a tree got hit a couple hundred yards from the house... didn't know it, but apparently that is close enough to generate enough static charge for the antenna to pick it up.... quite a surprise.. Can't be too careful with this stuff... |
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Quoted:
Had a nice thunder storm come through late yesterday... I do not yet have a lightning protection system installed, so I am overly careful with unplugging stuff at the first rumble of thunder. Unplugged the coax and just dropped it on the floor... A little while later, a very close clap of lightning and I heard what sounded like the unmistakable sound of an arc... rapid tik tik tik... looked down and the antenna connector was laying an eighth of an inch away from a metal filing cabinet... I'm thinking, no way, must have been my imagination... but the wife heard it too.... Well.. just found out that a tree got hit a couple hundred yards from the house... didn't know it, but apparently that is close enough to generate enough static charge for the antenna to pick it up.... quite a surprise.. Can't be too careful with this stuff... Oh yes, the EMP that is generated by a lightning strike can induct high voltage fields on wire miles away from the strike. Keep in mind there have been people in their ham shacks and heard arching, with no storms. Later they find out their antenna tuner was arching because of static electricity inducted on the wire from wind. Always good to have a DC ground arrestor for that alone. |