20 Jun 2014

Lightning damage risk

I am always nervous about lightning strikes.

The excellent Southgate News today told the (true) story of a local CBer who had his vertical and CB rig destroyed by lightning. See http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/
huntingdon_cb_radio_user_almost_electrocuted_after_lightning_
bolt_strikes_aerial_1_3648368http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/
huntingdon_cb_radio_user_almost_electrocuted_after_lightning_
bolt_strikes_aerial_1_3648368

I usually disconnect antennas when there is lightning about but I am still nervous.  One of my friends (not a radio ham and with no big antennas in the air) who lived in a normal estate home had his home struck years ago and it took out lots of his household wiring. The chances of a direct hit are rare, but I am always bothered and never quite sure what the best advice is.
at 19:31
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree with you. I see lots of varying advice about lightning. Some say to put little spikey things on the top of your tower to "dissipate charge buildup" or to raise the necessary potential to initiate a strike while others say the best you can do is put in lightning arrestors and a good ground system and cross your fingers. I'm sort of going with option 2 these days. And if I ever put up a tower it'll be crank-up so that I can keep the height to a minimum during storms. - Bert WF7I

Sat Jun 21, 12:54:00 pm GMT+1

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