[Elecraft] Avoiding costly lightning damage to your radios gear

[Gary Smith]

Apologies if this has been suggested 
already, I've got too many irons in the 
fire and might have missed/forgotten if 
this was earlier said; I no longer use a 
wired router, all my computers are 
wireless so there is no physical ethernet 
connection to any computer. 

I use the Netgear A6210 USB wireless Rx/Tx 
dongle and it is fast, very fast. Ethernet 
directly connected I get 300 Mbps download 
from the cable. With the Netgear dongle, I 
also get 300 Mbps. I lose nothing and 
eliminate that lightning path.

As to the cable itself coming to the 
house, I have replaced the cable company's 
grounded F81 Barrel Connector between the 
drop line and the house with a 75 ohm 
grounded surge protector bought at 
DXEngineering, I use them on my two HI-Z 
RX arrays as well.

After taking a hit to my just out of 
warranty, McIntosh tube preamp's USB this 
year, (forcing me to either pay big $ in 
repair or go with Toslink, I chose the 
glass toslink. (For audio only, the 
Toslink is excellent but with this system 
Toslink only offers one way communication 
from the computer to the preamp and some 
home entertainment utilizes two way 
communication). Fortunately, my needs 
don't require this.

Those 75 ohm cable lines must be 
protected, just like our communications 
coax.

73,

Gary
KA1J


> very good suggestions Wayne. I work in the Communications field and
> have for 40 years. I have seen massive amounts of lightning damage,
> regardless of grounding , protection, etc etc. If you take a direct
> hit.. something is going to fry and that´s it.
> 
> I unplug antennas, power cords AND Ethernet Cables to all computers in
> my ham shack. I must confess however, I have not disconnected the USB
> and RS232 lines. I sort of figure if the power cord and ethernet
> cables to my computer are disconnected, the path for the power surge
> is eliminated. BUT.. guess it would be better to be sure. And btw, yes
> my computers are all grounded very well.
> 
> thanks for the heads up
> 
> Ronnie W5SUM
> 
> 
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Wayne Burdick
> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2018 10:08 PM
> To: Elecraft Reflector
> Cc: KX3 at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Elecraft] Avoiding costly lightning damage to your radios
> gear
> 
> Every year, especially in summer, our techs see radios come in that
> have been damaged by lightning, despite the radio's protective
> circuitry. You can take steps to reduce your own risk.
> 
> 1. Many of us remember to disconnect antennas when lightning is
> anticipated. But in our experience, the most common source of damage,
> by far, is from an attached computer. Computers themselves often fail
> due to lightning strikes. They can also act as conduits for surges to
> other gear. Just to emphasize this point: Customers often say "I
> disconnected everything but the USB cable to the computer...," which
> left the interface to their radio exposed.
> 
> Note: Only in rare cases have we seen surge damage via other I/O ports
> (accessory jack, paddle/keyer jacks, PTT IN, KEY OUT, and DC). USB and
> RS232 ports are the most susceptible.
> 
> 2. Some stations have an ad-hoc ground system and little or no ESD or
> surge protection. If you haven't already taken protective measures, we
> strongly recommend reading this article, which goes into some detail
> regarding how lightning finds its way in:
> 
>    http://www.arrl.org/files/file/QST/This%20Month%20in%20QST/June2017
>    /Chusid-Morgan.pdf
> 
> At the very least, be sure your PC and other gear share a short,
> heavy, common ground.
> 
> 3. As for protecting your PC, here's a good starting point:
> 
>     https://www.wikihow.com/Protect-a-PC-in-a-Thunderstorm
> 
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
> 
> 
> 
> 
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