My experience is not far from this article. I have never connected any
piece of ham equipment to a special ground with the ground lug. I don't
ground my antennas when not in use either. If the ground from my
antennas comes into the house, I don't want that ground to bring
lightning surges into my home. At the first hint of a thunder storm, I
have a single plug I remove that removes all external AC from my
station. I also have a plate at the window where all my antennas enter
the house. I disconnect all my connections to that plate for storm
protection. The only protection that really works for lightning is
complete disconnection from the outside world, including grounds.
Remember if your ground just has .01 ohm and you get a 100,000 volt
lightning strike, you still get a 1000 volt difference across the ground
wire. So it is futile to think you can ground something struck by
lightning and keep the voltage low.
I have been in North Carolina for the past 40 years and this is what
works for me. North Carolina is second only to Florida in annual
lightning strikes.
Carl Moreschi N4PY
58 Hogwood Rd
Louisburg, NC 27549
www.n4py.com
On 5/18/2014 4:17 PM, Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP wrote:
Interesting article.
I particularly loved his piece on SWR. AMEN!
I am not knowledgeable enough on grounding to comment on his recommendation;
I'll leave that for others.
However there was one bit that does annoy me.
It is very dangerous to take one's own experience (even if it is over 39
years) and apply that in general to the rest of the world. "I've been
driving a car for 39 years. I am a cautious driver. Never had an accident.
Therefore I see no need for a seatbelt, airbag or even insurance."
My method in protecting from a lightning strike is an outdoor connection. I
simply unscrew the coax and throw it out into the yard (after placing a
plastic protective cover over the PL).
I also unplug ALL equipment from the wall - but I learned something from
this document.
I have not been disconnecting my ground which goes to a stake just outside
the house.
Will do that in the future.
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Jim Allen
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2014 9:17 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: [TenTec] Grounds
While perusing eHam for another topic, I ran across this article which I
share to provoke comments.
http://www.eham.net/articles/21383
73 de W6OGC Jim Allen
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|