importance of having a ground.

[K3DAV]

Nothing beats "sock drawer grounding". Nothing is grounded in my shack. When it starts to kick up, I take the rig loose from the power supply and antenna and put it in my sock drawer in the dresser. Never heard of lightning hitting a sock drawer have you?

I'll bet the radio is shaking from fear of darkness, and being next to your sox.

[K9STH]

There is only one "sure thing" where lightning is concerned: There is NO sure thing where lightning is concerned. Lightning has a "mind of its own". Lighting protection is a "black art", if you don't make your sacrifices to the lightning gods on Halloween you will have nothing but trouble for the year to come!

Well, it definitely "seems" that way! Actually, lightning is a very complex subject and, yes, there are definite reasons why lightning does certain things. But, even the slightest difference in the situation can result in completely different outcomes. That is why there are several different ways of obtaining a good lightning protection system. Each differs from the other in various methods. But, the overall idea is to prevent as much damage as possible from if, and when, you do take a strike.

Glen, K9STH

[K8JD]

Nothing beats "sock drawer grounding". Nothing is grounded in my shack. When it starts to kick up, I take the rig loose from the power supply and antenna and put it in my sock drawer in the dresser. Never heard of lightning hitting a sock drawer have you?

I tried, but my TS520 and TS440s just wouldn't fit.

I have not had any special grounding for my stations for 48 years and just have been lucky.
One near miss (street light acrossthe street)took out a fet and diode in my TS520. Required a trip across town to get substitute parts from a electronics supply store.

[KI4WCA]

If it truly is a high end receiver, not needed. The good ones have a choke across the antenna terminals to provide a DC path to ground to drain off static.

73 m/4

or have no choke since they were used with splitters with that feature I don't have.The factory guys told me about the rf choke trick, and there is one in my tuner.
They were 8500.00 new in 1985.Thank goodness I got them surplus!

[KA4DPO]

Here is a sure fire lightning arrestor.

Go to any department store and buy a mannequin. Run a copper wire through the mannequin from one hand through it's foot. Dress the mannequin up like a color blind Italian in clothes that would jam radar and place an old two iron in it's hand. Place it in your yard and connect the foot wire to a ground stake. Raise the hand with the golf club high above it's head. And the most important detail, put a name tag on it that says "Treveno".

I won't hit anything else near your house...

[K9STH]

Lee Trevino used to stand out during a thunderstorm with a #2 iron held above his head. He said that not even God could hit a #2 iron! Of course Lee had been hit by lightning at least twice while playing golf.


As for lightning protection: When I was in college (Georgia Tech) there was a math professor who lived in the house next door to my fraternity house who had a deathly fear of lightning. Whenever he was outside he always wore a hat with about a 6 inch piece of wire sticking out. That wire was connected to an inline plug/jack that connected to another piece of wire that went down his back and then "split" into wires that went down each leg of his pants. At his ankles there were additional plugs/jacks that went into wires that went into each shoe. These wires were connected to metal plates that were attached to each heel.

He would walk to the classroom building by always keeping at least one of his heels firmly on the ground. His "walk" was definitely unique and everyone could tell by sight whenever he was outside. Just as soon as he got inside he would remove his hat and disconnect the "lightning rod". Once inside he was perfectly "normal" in his actions. But, before he would go outside he immediately connected the "lightning rod" and then start his "one heel always on the ground" walk.

Fortunately, this "oddity" did was not heredity. His teenage daughter was at least a 9.9, if not a 10, and she was definitely not afraid of lightning.

Glen, K9STH

[AG3Y]

All this talk about lightning, reminds me of that commercial where all the gals are doing things in the rainstorm, including "playing with my ham radios" ! ! !

Here's the URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZmZQaPjmg

Funny ! ! !

[W4HAY]

Make sure your station ground is properly bonded to the power system ground. Thousands of volts differential can momentarily exist between the two in the event of a nearby strike.

[K3DAV]

All this talk about lightning, reminds me of that commercial where all the gals are doing things in the rainstorm, including "playing with my ham radios" ! ! !

Here's the URL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZmZQaPjmg

Funny ! ! !

LMAO! Now that's just damned funny.

[VE2NSM]

When I was in college (Georgia Tech) there was a math professor who lived in the house next door to my fraternity house who had a deathly fear of lightning.

Math teatcher eh?
Those are one crazy breed of individuals