[Elecraft] Lightening static

[David Gilbert]

It isn't limited to vertical antennas at all.  I once got zapped with a 
thick 2 inch long bright blue arc from an 80m Inverted-V that didn't 
have any static bleedoff.  I used to just short the shack end of the 
coax for that purpose, but one time I had forgotten to do that until I 
remembered just as a storm was approaching in the distance.  As I 
reached down to put on the sorted PL259 (I had one hand on the concrete 
floor) the zap nailed me on the other hand. The biceps of both arms were 
sore for three days.

Anything that can generate a difference of potential is a potential 
risk.  It's informative to look up how much voltage is required to 
create a 2" arc in dry air.  I can't find a source, but it would 
probably also interesting to see what kind of current is necessary to 
make the arc almost 2 mm thick.

73,
Dave   AB7E



On 7/31/2023 2:54 PM, Gmail wrote:
> Static buildup is a problem mostly with vertical antennas.