Fw: [Hallicrafters] SX-110A question (Antenna "sparking")

[edben]

The old World War II Liberty Ship Radio Operator has to answer this one!

Believe me, this is no fairy tale!  Our shipboard antennas connected by a 
plug, with a long well-insulated handle.  It wasn't necessarily during an 
"electric storm", but much more likely during a "drizzle", that the antennas 
would start building up a charge.  When that happened, your radio would roar 
with a volume that would cover up any radio signal on the air.  I never had 
the chance to check it, but there's no doubt in my mind that at night, your 
antenna, and more likely, all the grounded "points" of the ship would be lit 
up with "St Elmo's Fire," caused by such a high voltage build up that they 
are actually arcing into the air.

When this static condition occurred, one could "pull the plug" from its 
receptacle, and easily draw an eight inch or longer spark from it!  Now, if 
you doubt that a short antenna would do this, I can report, first hand, 
hearing this same "over-everything type static," when I was driving my car 
in a drizzle in central Illinois prairie country, probably about 1955.  It 
lasted for several minutes before the effect disappeared and the radio 
returned to normal.  Had I not been aware, because of my frequent shipboard 
experience with this static build up, I would never have guessed what was 
happening with my car radio and it's very short antenna.  I'm sure that if 
it had been a black-of-night, lights out, experience, one could have seen 
the glow on the tip of the car antenna.  And; incidently, I'm sure that's 
why your car antenna still has a round knob on it.  That will lessen the 
chance that this so-called "point discharge" will happen while you're trying 
to hear a good program!

I have never, except for that one experience, heard that effect since my 
World War II years at sea, but be assured, it is real!

Ed Benjamin

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Gerhold" <k2wh at optonline.net>
To: "'Philip Atchley'" <beaconeer at sbcglobal.net>; "'Mark Bell'" 
<bell at blazenet.net>; <hallicrafters at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 8:49 PM
Subject: RE: Fw: [Hallicrafters] SX-110A question


> For the life of me I have never, ever seen the sparking across any
> connectors connected to any antenna I have ever had.  I know others have
> said they have seen this but I have never, even with a full size 160 meter
> dipole!  I have even put an NE-2 across a PL-259 lying free during an
> approaching lightning storm and nothing.