[Elecraft] static buildup on antennas

[Mike Schwendeman]

Richard;

You had offered the following:
 > I have alligator clips on the ends of my ladder-line so that I can 
easily connect them
 > to a ground lead when finished operating. I would get bit doing this 
at times, so I put
 > a 1 MegOhm resistor from each twin lead tap on the tuner to ground. 
No trouble since.
 > Perhaps I should reduce the R value though.
 > Some guys use spark plugs to bleed off, but I feel that allows too 
much voltage at the point of dis-charge.

I suggest that you attach the alligator clips to your GROUNDED wires, 
not the antenna.  (Safety is the thought, here.)

One meg of resistance as a bleeder is a good thought, but might be 
"plenty high."  (Consider a value closer to a quarter-meg, per what I 
recall reading.)

I agree that the spark-plug is basically a good thought, but is this gap 
is jumped, the receiver may well have suffered damage at that point.  
Not a total protection situation!

If one uses a balun, the antenna (considering balanced line) is grounded 
as a result of the balun's DC continuity.  This seems to satisfy a lot 
of needs...  It may be that SOME baluns do not offer a DC path to the 
coax, but mine do.

73;    -Mike-    KØJTA