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Did something stupid yesterday

B

bamacj

old ham
Aug 3, 2009
135
5
28
south bama
Usually when I get threw fooling with my radio equipment for the day I disconnect all my hf antennas and lay them in a spot so when they arc it wont cause much of a problem. I went on vacation to enjoy one of my other hobbies "fast boats" and left without unhooking the feed lines.

When I returned it had just started to rain so I put the boat in the carport and thought about the feed lines when I heard it rumble kinda close, so I ran in the house and started un hooking the cables. The vhf stuff is easy, un hook the coax to the equipment and put the switch box to ground. The hf stuff is not set up that way. I got the 75 meter loop unhooked ok and was working on the 75/40 inverted vee when I had a strike close but not very close.I still had the pl259 of the vee in my hand when the strike hit and must have induced enough voltage to give me a jolt. My hand was numb from my fingers to my elbow for a minute or so. Could have been a very bad situation.

Folks, dont be messing with your antennas during an electrical storn.:redface::oops::blush:
 

I find myself doing this often aswell and I know its just stupid, foolish and plainly idiotic I also know better but I tell my wife one of these days :(
 
bamacj said:
... lay them in a spot so when they arc it wont cause much of a problem...

Folks, dont be messing with your antennas during an electrical storn.:redface::oops::blush:
Click to expand...
i still thinking about this,........

BTW, don't ya'll have any MASON jars?
 
A mason jar will not hold a direct hit when that lightning come out of the end its going through whatever is in its way to get to ground adult, child, pet, glass wood shes gonna look for ground and real fast. I for one dont want any stray lightning in my house if I can help it or have any say or control in the matter.

Yes years ago I also used the mason jar tactic but had read up on lightning along with getting involved in several discussions about it with some knowledgable people on 80 meters.
 
hookedon6 said:
i still thinking about this,........

BTW, don't ya'll have any MASON jars?
Click to expand...



No,no,no. Mason jars are for storing White Lightning in, you know moonshine, not the stuff that comes from the sky in fiery bolts. :D If lightning had no problem arcing across miles of sky a little thin piece of glass is not going to stop it but it may turn that jar into a fragmentation grenade. :eek:
 
Yes I keep my moonshine in the jars not my coax. My hf feedlines are not set up to just short to ground. I place them close to my ground buss so when/if they arc the will go to the buss and not the radio stuff.

The new tower will have polyphasers and ICE stuff along with a switch box that will go to ground.
 
bamacj said:
Yes I keep my moonshine in the jars not my coax. My hf feedlines are not set up to just short to ground. I place them close to my ground buss so when/if they arc the will go to the buss and not the radio stuff.

The new tower will have polyphasers and ICE stuff along with a switch box that will go to ground.
Click to expand...


I would not rely on "close" for a ground. Lightning could just as easily arc through the coax sheath to anything along the way as it could arc through the air to a "close" ground buss.If the coax was actually screwed into connectors connected to the ground buss then that is another story. Either way it should be outdoors at the point of entry for best protection. You really do not want lightning entering the house and then looking for a ground path.
 
QUICK DISCONNECT!

I have a barrel connector on ALL of my antennas(HF,VHF,CB)so it does NOT take but just a second to disconnect them all.I also have them all color coded so myself or my wife can reconnect them FAST as well.I di the same thing as a kid but I had a D-104 in my hand that bit me when the strike happened & all was well with the radio & antenna & after an hour or so with me as well.Just about wet my pants at the time. }:>) :LOL: LIGHTNING is NOT your FRIEND!(y)

SIX-SHOOTER
 
Long, long ago (in a galaxy far away) I had the antenna disconnected for some reason and noticed that it was 'snapping'. No lightning, but lots of wind. I thought that was interesting so put a volt meter across the PL-259 to see what it might be. I can't remember the exact figures but just wind static produced some really large voltages. I used a diode so was measuring half (?) of what was being produced. I don't want to have my hands anywhere close to that if I don't have to (or any other part of me either).
I know that doesn't compare to lightning, near or far away. Not to wish you any bad luck, but I'm glad it was you and not me! Sorry 'bout that...
- 'Doc
 
Doc. many years ago a friend brought me his shortwave receiver. It was deaf as a post,could hardly hear the local AM broadcast station. The front end FET was literally split into two pieces. I asked him WTF happened. He replied "Well I don't know. I went to unhook the longwire antenna and there was a spark from the centre of the coax when it touched the radio's case." :blink: I replaced the FET and installed a series capacitor in the antenna lead path as well as a pair of back to back diodes across the antenna terminals for him. He never had the problem again.
 
W5LZ said:
... noticed that it was 'snapping'... lots of wind. I thought that was interesting so put a volt meter across the PL-259 to see what it might be. I can't remember the exact figures but just wind static produced some really large voltages... 'Doc
Click to expand...

if you have ever used a helium "balloon" to lift a longwire/endfed antenna, this is REAL common. the wind produced static WILL zap ya:blink:
 

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