Marinus Willemstijn wrote:
> Basically protect my radios to such an extent that I do not have to unplug
> for every stray bit of lightning. I have insurance but un plugging becomes a
> drag for me in our rainy season (Summer). Basically first line of defense
> for the radios.
>
>
Is insurance an option? Seriously... in the US, the ARRL insurance is
1.5% of the replacement cost. And it would cover a direct hit, which a
polyphaser type transient suppressor might not. What do people in your
area do with external TV antennas? How many TVs get destroyed from
lightning?
Assuming you want to do more than just "recover" from a problem
What about a grounding antenna switch or relay at the place where the
cable comes into the house? When you're not using it, you flip the
switch, and it's grounded. A lot easier than connecting and
disconnecting cables. Hook the relay up so power has to be applied to
unground the line, and it's pretty failsafe (i.e. when no power is
available, the feedline is grounded)
The next step is various sorts of transient suppressors and careful
attention to the bonding/grounding paths. The transient suppressor will
limit the voltage between center conductor and shield to a few tens or
hundreds of volts: it's up to your receiver to deal with that level of
transient. But the real concern will be whether the shield is at the
same voltage as the powerline grounding conductor, or your network
cable, or your phone line.
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