Cecil Moore wrote:
When I lived in the Arizona, clear-sky wind-driven charged
dust particles transferred lots of energy to my bare-wire
G5RV. It caused arcing whether the outside braid was grounded
or not. It only happened when the wind was blowing and
the humidity was very low.

But that effect is common no matter where we live. As I've said several
times, a high dipole here for 160m charges enough to knock you on your
rear on a calm sunny day if the coacial line is well insulated from
ground.

It is not wise tol have a large high antenna that was well-insulated
from ground, since the accumulated charge can suddenly discharge
through a series capacitor and damage equipment.

Utility companies must ground unused wires that run for miles to
prevent build up of charge, so that is not something that just occurs
in arid climates.

Do you agree that a charged particle will transfer energy
to the bare wire in a dipole when it touches it? If not,
why not?

Of course it will IF it is at a different potential than the wire.

If the antenna were link coupled, do you agree that the
above transferred energy will try to equalize between the
two dipole elements? If not, why not?

Of course it will.

Do you agree that the equalizing of the charges between
elements would cause a current to flow through the link?
If not, why not?

Of course it will.

I disagree wth your contention that the link, if the noise comes from
each particle hitting the antenna, will reduce noise. That's the part
that makes no sense.

Maybe you can explain why the link (or folded element) would reduce
that noise.

73 Tom