[Elecraft] Snow static, etc. [WAS Re: QRN and the K3: AWESOME!]

[Fred Jensen]

Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> Also, be careful if your antenna is disconnected but not grounded. You can
> get a painful jolt touching the feeder if it has collected
> rain/hail/sleet/snow static. It's not uncommon to see sparks jump from the
> center pin to the shield across a PL259 or similar connector under those
> conditions. 

FWIW:  The "usual suspects" again put Alpine County CA on the air in the 
CQP at the beginning of Oct.  Our camp is at 8,400' in the Sierra 
Nevada, it's not uncommon to get snow, and we did this year.  We were 
using a 765 Pro II, you could see the precip static on the baseline of 
the spectrum scope, and at one point, the Pro II quit.  We had a spare, 
and later on in another snow squall, it quit.  We finished up with an 
IC-706.

My experience with snow static many years ago in the northern interior 
of AK is that what you hear [if anything] isn't what does in the front 
end of a radio.  The charge will steadily build, tiny little leaks 
create the noise, and finally, the voltage is high enough to either arc 
over at the connector or inside the radio.  The total charge [in 
coulombs] is very small and an RF choke or bleeder resistor across the 
antenna connector will keep the voltage to acceptable levels.  I'm 
pretty sure the K3 has such a bleeder, not sure about my K2 and KX1.

All bets are off however should a big spark from the sky land on your 
antenna.

73,

Fred K6DGW
Auburn CA