[Elecraft] Lightning Protection (was-Re: suggested PC???)

[Barry Baines]

Neil:


> On Jan 6, 2016, at 8:25 AM, Neil Zampella <neilz at techie.com> wrote:
> 
> FWIW ... I've got everything setup wired in the shack, but everything (cable coax, ethernet, power) runs through an uninterruptible power supply (ups).   Many of the higher end models provide not only power surge protection and battery, but lightning/surge protection for coax and ethernet.


By ‘coax’ do you mean cable TV coax or are you suggesting RF coax for amateur radio transceivers?  Clearly, UPS surge protection is not designed for anything on the order that an amateur transmitter (even QRP) can produce.  Further, UPS devices presume 75 ohm coax systems, not 50 Ohm as used in amateur radio antennas and transmitters. They are designed to protect a TV antenna or a cable setup box/cable modem.  

My shack in Georgia was impacted by an indirect hit in 2014 which damaged computers, amplifiers, ethernet switches, and a myriad of gear that was ’networked’ in the shack as well as the house, even though I have Polyphasers on all of my RF cables going into the shack from the tower with an extensive ground system for lightning surges. What I didn’t have was adequate protection on my ethernet, coax from DirecTV, and telco lines in the shack where presumably the surge entered.  I didn’t want to go wireless on the LAN because I operate my station remote and wireless connections introduce a potential failure point that can’t be fixed unless I’m there to reset something.  Wireless is also slower than wired ethernet.

My solution was to purchase Ethernet-to-Fiber converters to isolate my LAN network in the shack from the rest of the LAN in the house as well as provide isolation from individual components from one another. Thus, I ran dual 110 ft. fiber from the house to the hamshack (through existing buried conduit that also carries telco and DirecTV) that will keep surges from coming into the house through the ethernet connections from the shack.  I installed switches in the shack that have both LAN and Fiber so that I could isolate nearby components from the network in the shack.  I use ethernet-to-fiber converters with short fiber jumpers to individually isolate my high end equipment from the network (such as a  Flex-6700 and the computers in the shack).  These converters have no impact on the ability of the network to communicate (still 10/100/1000 MB depending upon the component that it protects).  I consider this an insurance policy—the cost of the fiber being significantly less than the cost of replacement of damaged equipment. Each converter has a 5V ‘wall wart’ which is plugged into a UPS primarily for surge protection but also keeps the network up in the event of power failure or momentary power fluctuation.  

I’m still in the process of installing protection for the DirecTV line coming to the shack as well as the telco lines in the shack.  I have a central ground panel where I will install the protective devices for telco and DirecTV by the existing RF surge protectors.  One challenge is finding a lightning protection device for DirecTV as they feed power through the cable to power the LNB at the dish.  When I spoke with a DirecTV technician, he had no suggestions on what to use.  There are devices out there, just need to find them.  I also have a Speco Technology PTZ analog camera on the tower with 75 ohm video, 12 VDC power, and RS-485 control lines will also be protected at the same ground panel.  I’ve found suitable devices for the camera’s connections. 

AC power is also a concern.  A UPS is adequate for 120 VAC equipment such as computers and monitors but won’t protect 220 VAC devices such as high power amplifiers.  I’m still hoping to find a suitable surge protector designed for 220 VAC systems to plug between my amplifiers and the 220 VAC wall connection.   

From an Elecraft perspective, I use fiber-to-ethernet interfaces between the Remote Rig devices and my network.  Thus, if a surge were to go from the K3’s RS-232 port to the RemoteRig RCC-1258MKII, the surge won’t be extended through the Remote Rig to the LAN.  My KPA-500 is attached to a RC-1216H (which provides a web interface for controlling the amplifier) which in turn has a ethernet-to-fiber interface which protects the network from a surge coming through the RC-1216H.  My KAT-500’s serial line is attached to a Lantronix Serial-to-Ethernet interface device which in turn is attached to an ethernet-to-fiber interface.  As my rotor controller RS-232 line is attached to the same Lantronix box, any surge coming from the rotor interface will also not go through the LAN network.   Thus, there are no RS-232 line connections directly from my ham equipment to a computer, providing additional isolation for the computers.  I can’t say the same thing about USB connections, as some devices such as a Fun Cube Dongle won’t work if attached to a USB-to-Ethernet interface.  However, I do use a USB-to-Ethernet device for my Wavenode WN-2.  
 
    

73,

Barry Baines, WD4ASW
Westborough, MA
Folkston, GA


> 
> Neil Zampella
> KN3ILZ
> 
> On 1/5/2016 8:14 PM, Gary K9GS wrote:
>> Hi Jerry,
>> 
>> Don't use a wired network.  I had my shack computer on a wired network when I took a lightning hit a couple of years ago.
>> 
>> Everything connected on the wired network was zapped (2 PCs, router, modem, K3 RS-232 port, WinKey (connected to one of the PCs), and the Cable TV amplifier located over 150 ft away out by the road.  When I rebuilt everything i went wireless with all of my PCs and have never regretted it.