"Highland Ham" wrote in message
...
Dave wrote:
I saw somewhere that you could use an NE-2 bulb between the antenna "hot"
lead and ground as a static discharge device for a receiver, but can't
find an NE-2 and don't know anything about neon bulbs. Anybody know if a
standard neon bulb rated at 125 VAC could be used in this manner? Or how
I could test it? I'm thinking about charging up a 50V electrolytic
capacitor and hitting the bulb with that, to see if it discharges the
cap. I have a ..22uF 630V mylar cap between the antenna and the input
to the tuner because the 35V disc I had there got blown, so I know that
static can be a problem with my setup even though it is grounded at two
points.
Would welcome any ideas anyone has on how to make this work...
============================================
To avoid building-up of static you can fit a say 47 Kilo Ohms
non-inductive resistor between what you call the 'hot' lead and earth.
This would not affect the received or transmitted signal.

I have fitted 2 non-inductive (carbon) 1 Watt resistors (47 KOhms) from
the incoming balanced feeder to earth at the Antenna Matching Unit.
This approach is obviously also OK with an incoming coax feeder.
At 100 W RF output the voltage would be 71 V at the transceiver. This
would dissipate a little over 0.1 Watt in the 47K resistor fitted at the
transceiver. Metal-oxyde resistors can for this purpose also be
considered as non-inductive.


Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH

Thanks for the input, Frank. I believe this, or something like it, is what
I am going to have to do. I've already got the bulb installed in the
receiver case, and I guess I'll leave it there to warn me of impending doom,
but the resistor idea is what will probably save my bacon.

Is a metal-oxide resistor the same thing as a metal-film resistor? Or would
that be inductive and mess with my incoming signal?

Thanks much,

Dave