[Elecraft] Q: Building the K2

[Fred Jensen]

Nick Waterman wrote:

 > I have the dummy load in ANT1 of my KPA100, and the real ant in
 > ANT2. I have this crazy idea that ANT1 is selected when powered
 > down, so I have just a teeny tiny bit more lightning protection
 > with the real ant disconnected, even if it's only a fraction of
 > a mm gap in a relay.

Sorry Nick, "Teeny" and "lightning" in the same sentence is oxymoronic.

For small static charges, maybe, if there's a bleed path (I think 
Elecraft rigs have one).  For direct hits (or near direct hits, or hits 
on your power or tel lines some distance away followed by flames), call 
the fire department, assuming the phone still works.  Make sure your rig 
is grounded from the chassis to the "real Earth," as our UK/VK 
colleagues call it, which is a much better way of looking at it 
actually.  Our use of the word "ground" calls up a steel tent stake in 
the dirt.  "Earth" is often not what you stand on, it may be unreachable 
electrically.

Lightning strikes are really RF ... DC to light (OK ... we all know 
that, we've seen them, they're scary).  A good DC ground, like the one 
the power company uses and might be required by your building codes, may 
be an open circuit for RF.

Disconnect your K2.  Disconnect all your gear.  Unplug it from the surge 
protectors in a thunderstorm.  Consider the size of the surge protector 
compared to the distance between the cloud and the powerline that takes 
the hit.  If the static voltage was enough to make it from a cloud to 
anywhere near your antenna, the liklihood that the relay contacts are 
going to stop it approach zero ... really fast.

Fred K6DGW
Auburn CA CM98lw

Nick Waterman wrote:
> thom2 at att.net wrote:
> 
>>Hi Geoff, Yes the basic K2 with the ATU also has 2 antenna jacks.  I
>>also put a dummy load on 'Ant 2', I can't tell you how many times I
>>tried to auto tune into an empty 'Ant 2', before I finally caught on.
> 
> 
> I have the dummy load in ANT1 of my KPA100, and the real ant in ANT2. I
> have this crazy idea that ANT1 is selected when powered down, so I have
> just a teeny tiny bit more lightning protection with the real ant
> disconnected, even if it's only a fraction of a mm gap in a relay.
>