In a recent conversation with fellow SWLers, we noted that each of us
used a different (or nonexistent) solution to lightning protection.

You can also see this attitude in antenna discussions...very little
discussion on proper grounding and lightning disappation.

So the question... what do YOU use for lightning protection to prevent
you and your radios from being turned into melted blobs of charred
tissue and plastic? Examples of proven designs with their accompanying
stories would be of particular interest.

TMT

I unplug the radio when thunderstorms are projected.

Lightning? What's that?



"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
ps.com...
In a recent conversation with fellow SWLers, we noted that each of us
used a different (or nonexistent) solution to lightning protection.

You can also see this attitude in antenna discussions...very little
discussion on proper grounding and lightning disappation.

So the question... what do YOU use for lightning protection to prevent
you and your radios from being turned into melted blobs of charred
tissue and plastic? Examples of proven designs with their accompanying
stories would be of particular interest.

TMT

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
ps.com...
In a recent conversation with fellow SWLers, we noted that each of us
used a different (or nonexistent) solution to lightning protection.

You can also see this attitude in antenna discussions...very little
discussion on proper grounding and lightning disappation.

So the question... what do YOU use for lightning protection to prevent
you and your radios from being turned into melted blobs of charred
tissue and plastic? Examples of proven designs with their accompanying
stories would be of particular interest.

Unlikely that anything will survive a direct lightning strike without some
damage.


TMT

Your telco has overhead wires everywhere in town. Do they
disconnect during T-storms to protect that $multi-million
computer? Of course not. Protection for each switching
station has been standard and well proven effective since
before WWII - even before transistors existed. It is routine
to suffer direct strikes and not suffer damage.

The secret is a most critical component of the protection
system - the single point earth ground. Each incoming wire
connects to earthing either via a direct (and short) wire, or
via a surge protector. A surge protector is not protection.
Effective protector connects destructive transients to earth
ground. Protection is defined by single point earth ground -
quality of and distance connected to.

Notice how a properly installed CATV enters the building.
First it drops down to single point earthing, makes a less
than 10 foot connection, and only then rises back up to enter
the building. Wire to and wire from that earthing point must
be separated. Protection is as Ben Franklin demonstrated in
1752. Lightning is not stopped, blocked, or absorbed - as
those who promote ineffective plug-in protectors would claim.
Earth before lightning can enter a building to overwhelm
protection already inside all electronic appliances.

Same applies to that radio antenna. First make a short
connection to earth ground between receiver and antenna.
Another poster properly cited Polyphaser: a benchmark in
protection. Read their tech notes. Does Polyphaser promote
their products? No. Polyphaser is about effective
protection. They discuss earthing ... extensively. The
protector is only as effective as its earth ground.

Even that wall receptacle safety ground is not earth
ground. This for electrical reasons posted elsewhere.
Another good source are discussions in
rec.radio.amateur.antenna such as "Why a Short Lightning
Ground" - especially posts from Richard Harrison and Jack
Painter at:
http://tinyurl.com/ao36t

Anyone who says lightning protection is not possible must
explain why effective and properly earthed protection works
every year in virtually every town. They must explain why
electronics atop the Empire State Building and WTC would
suffer 25 and 40 direct strikes every year without damage.
Those who claim lightning protection is not possible failed to
first learn a science well proven over 60 years ago.

BTW, every incoming utility wire is just another antenna
connected to everything inside a building. The most common
source of destructive transients is AC electric - wires
highest on poles and utility that typically provides no
secondary protection. You must install the secondary
protection - ie the 'whole house' protector. Every incoming
wire requires either a direct connection to building's earth
ground OR makes that short connection via a 'whole house'
protector.

Protection so effective and so inexpensive as to even be
installed, for free, by the telco on your incoming phone
line. Protection is defined by and is only as effective as
the single point earth ground. Ineffective plug-in
protectors, instead, avoid all mention about earthing (since
they are promoting profits and not an effective product).

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
In a recent conversation with fellow SWLers, we noted that each of us
used a different (or nonexistent) solution to lightning protection.

You can also see this attitude in antenna discussions...very little
discussion on proper grounding and lightning disappation.

So the question... what do YOU use for lightning protection to prevent
you and your radios from being turned into melted blobs of charred
tissue and plastic? Examples of proven designs with their accompanying
stories would be of particular interest.

TMT

"w_tom" wrote in message
...
Your telco has overhead wires everywhere in town. Do they
disconnect during T-storms to protect that $multi-million
computer? Of course not. Protection for each switching
station has been standard and well proven effective since
before WWII - even before transistors existed. It is routine
to suffer direct strikes and not suffer damage.

The secret is a most critical component of the protection
system - the single point earth ground. Each incoming wire
connects to earthing either via a direct (and short) wire, or
via a surge protector. A surge protector is not protection.
Effective protector connects destructive transients to earth
ground. Protection is defined by single point earth ground -
quality of and distance connected to.

Notice how a properly installed CATV enters the building.
First it drops down to single point earthing, makes a less
than 10 foot connection, and only then rises back up to enter
the building. Wire to and wire from that earthing point must
be separated. Protection is as Ben Franklin demonstrated in
1752. Lightning is not stopped, blocked, or absorbed - as
those who promote ineffective plug-in protectors would claim.
Earth before lightning can enter a building to overwhelm
protection already inside all electronic appliances.

Same applies to that radio antenna. First make a short
connection to earth ground between receiver and antenna.
Another poster properly cited Polyphaser: a benchmark in
protection. Read their tech notes. Does Polyphaser promote
their products? No. Polyphaser is about effective
protection. They discuss earthing ... extensively. The
protector is only as effective as its earth ground.

Even that wall receptacle safety ground is not earth
ground. This for electrical reasons posted elsewhere.
Another good source are discussions in
rec.radio.amateur.antenna such as "Why a Short Lightning
Ground" - especially posts from Richard Harrison and Jack
Painter at:
http://tinyurl.com/ao36t

Anyone who says lightning protection is not possible must
explain why effective and properly earthed protection works
every year in virtually every town. They must explain why
electronics atop the Empire State Building and WTC would
suffer 25 and 40 direct strikes every year without damage.

There certainly isn't a short connection to ground in those cases.


Those who claim lightning protection is not possible failed to
first learn a science well proven over 60 years ago.

BTW, every incoming utility wire is just another antenna
connected to everything inside a building. The most common
source of destructive transients is AC electric - wires
highest on poles and utility that typically provides no
secondary protection. You must install the secondary
protection - ie the 'whole house' protector. Every incoming
wire requires either a direct connection to building's earth
ground OR makes that short connection via a 'whole house'
protector.

Protection so effective and so inexpensive as to even be
installed, for free, by the telco on your incoming phone
line. Protection is defined by and is only as effective as
the single point earth ground. Ineffective plug-in
protectors, instead, avoid all mention about earthing (since
they are promoting profits and not an effective product).

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
In a recent conversation with fellow SWLers, we noted that each of us
used a different (or nonexistent) solution to lightning protection.

You can also see this attitude in antenna discussions...very little
discussion on proper grounding and lightning disappation.

So the question... what do YOU use for lightning protection to prevent
you and your radios from being turned into melted blobs of charred
tissue and plastic? Examples of proven designs with their accompanying
stories would be of particular interest.

TMT

Short connection to earth exists atop skyscrapers.
Demonstrated by professional research even on the Empire State
Building in the 1930s. Electrical concepts that are beyond
the scope of this discussion. Protection, proven effective
even before WWII, is about earthing. Even that coax wire from
Dish must drop down to a single point earth ground before
entering the building.

How to identify ineffective protectors: 1) No dedicated
connection to earth ground and 2) manufacturer routinely
avoids all mention of earthing. Since rules demonstrate why
protectors sold in Kmart, Sears, Staples, Radio Shack,
Walmart, Office Max, etc are ineffective (as well as
overpriced). Earthing having been long proven as essential to
effective protection as demonstrated by Polyphaser (cited
previously in a post from r2000swler) and in previous
discussions including industry professional at
http://tinyurl.com/ao36t

FDR wrote:
"w_tom" wrote in message
...
Anyone who says lightning protection is not possible must
explain why effective and properly earthed protection works
every year in virtually every town. They must explain why
electronics atop the Empire State Building and WTC would
suffer 25 and 40 direct strikes every year without damage.

There certainly isn't a short connection to ground in those cases.

w_tom wrote:

Do you write this drivel every time, or do you copy and past it?
Once again, your knowledge of a number of systems is evident. I have
seen a lot of damaged telco equipment. In fact, I've been in the Sprint
warehouse in Eustis, Florida where they had skids full of lightning
damaged circuit boards being sold as scrap. If the wire is never
damaged, why do they build their plant with extra pairs? Those pairs
are exempt from tariffs, as long as they are only used to replace a
damaged pair. I lost my underground phone line when lighting struck an
old barn on our property. We had a light out there, so lightning got
into our electrical service. Everything critical was on plug in MOV
protectors and they all survived. The lightning jumped from the
underground power line to Sprint's buried line which they had installed
a few inches from the existing buried power line. The pair of wires was
vaporized to the street which was over a mile. It wiped out the line
card in the pedestal, and the pair back to the CO was damaged. All 16
customers fed by that pair had excessive noise on their phones so they
had to switch to one of the spare pairs. That lightning strike did
thousands of dollars worth of damage to their equipment, and took weeks
to fix. Now, tell us again that Telcos don't suffer lightning damage.


--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Hi Mike. In an earlier post it was stated that "replacement value
homeowners insurance" is the only true protection for a lightning
strike and that is still the surest bet.
NOYK in SW Ocala

No One You Know wrote:

Hi Mike. In an earlier post it was stated that "replacement value
homeowners insurance" is the only true protection for a lightning
strike and that is still the surest bet.
NOYK in SW Ocala

It cost our insurance company some money, but I'll bet that Sprint
spent $10,000 to fix everything in that Lake County strike that
vaporized the underground phone line. They had to bury a new 25 pair
line to all the pedestals on my road, and a new six pair a quarter mile
to the house because everyone on the old cable had intermittent noise on
their phones. They had to replace the guts in several pedestals because
their lightning protectors failed and left nice burn marks.

BTW, are you getting ready for the hurricane season? I'd like to buy
a 3 KW or larger generator while we have the sales tax holiday, but I
just don't have the extra cash right now. I finally got a truck and
fixed it so I don't have to depend on someone else to take me places.
I've already spent $200 on it in less than two weeks and I still need to
fix the air conditioner.

--
Former professional electron wrangler.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida