[Elecraft] Fwd: Re: Antenna static charge precautions - any tips?

[Fred Jensen]

On 9/9/2012 6:28 AM, hawley, charles j jr wrote:
> Which begs the question...why isn't a 100K across the antenna jack in the original design?
> BTW, I use a choke across the antenna leads.

Disadvantage of a choke is that it can form a resonant circuit with the
capacitance of the antenna/antenna input.  Usually not a problem, but
can be.

And, beware of precip static.  Each individual little noise pulse is a
tiny charge deposited at your antenna input.  Even though it looks like
very low amplitude "grass" on the baseline of a panadapter, if the
antenna does not have a bleed, each little charge adds to the previous
ones and slowly ratchets up the potential until something [often PIN
diodes in a T-R switch] fry.  We managed to do in two IC-756PRO's at N6A
in the Cal QSO Party during a snowstorm from this effect.

With a combined ham experience of about 160 years on the crew, one would 
think we'd have learned after the first one went. :-)

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2012 Cal QSO Party 6-7 Oct 2012
- www.cqp.org