[Elecraft] Lighting

[David Gilbert]

Several years ago before my house was fully completed, I had my coax 
lines disconnected but just lying on the concrete floor of the room I 
had my ham gear in.  I usually had those lines terminated in a short, 
but one day as a storm was approaching (it was still at least five miles 
away) I noticed that the line from the 80m dipole didn't have the 
shorted PL-259 on it.  I bent down with one hand on the concrete floor 
and reached for the insulated casing on the coax with the other hand.  
My free hand swept by the end of the coax, though, and I drew a very 
bright, very thick, and very blue 2 inch long arc to my hand ... which 
of course traveled through my body to the other hand that was on the 
floor.  My biceps were sore for three days afterward.

The breakdown voltage of air with 40% humidity (roughly what we have 
here in southern Arizona during the monsoons) is about 8kv/cm.  Of 
course that is also a function of the sharpness of electrodes, but still 
... I got zapped with a LOT of energy especially considering the 
thickness of the arc.  Apparently, though, it was too much to represent 
a lethal shock to my heart (which is more like milliamps) and too little 
to fry my body.

To be clear, that energy wasn't the result of a strike.  It was simply 
static buildup between the legs of the 80m dipole.  I short everything 
now when it isn't in use.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 8/24/2022 1:54 PM, Gene Robinson wrote:
> Working at Collins in the 60’s we had a lab with no windows but we did have 18 foot vertical antennas on the roof.
> We would have NE2 neon bulbs connected to the RF coax feed lines and when thunderstorms were within 5 miles they would start to flash.
> We all then went out to the parking lot and rolled up our windows.
> The rain and lightning would arrive about 10 to 15 minutes latter.
> The break down and flash voltage for a NE2 is 90 volts! Keep those antennas disconnected when not in use.
> Gene N5LDX
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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