As a result of recent events, I have two surge protectors that no longer
function without putting out loud noises on HF. I found that the $5
surge protector that my Yaesu was plugged in to was making a loud
whistling noise which was covered up by the louder warbling noise being
made by the Belkin I had my computer plugged into. So I decided to break
them open to see what was inside. The easiest was Old El Cheapo, held
together with screws. Inside was a length of wire, a switch and ONE disc
capacitor wired into six plugs. IMO that's little better than a plain
old power strip. The Belkin had no screws, so it took a little longer to
crack. The results: a switch, two LEDs ("protected" and "grounded"), an
inductor coil, a couple resistors and transistors, and about 9 or 10
disc capacitors in series. In October 2002 the Belkin cost me $40. I'm
hard pressed to say that it was money well spent, if all that's in there
are some capacitors and resistors. Question: are surge protectors worth
it if all they are is just a bunch of capacitors? I know that my $40
surge protector apparently rolled over and died when hit with a real
surge.