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

[Patrick A. Thompson Sr.]

I believe you have the correct answer!

I've seen similar at an AM broadcast station many years ago.  The spark 
gaps would fire every few minutes for several hours during blue sky 
conditions but with steady wind. Each time the gaps fired the 
transmitter cycled much to our embarrassment.

Several years ago I saw a similar condition with a simple long wire 
antenna. A steady clicking from inside the radio as the static charge on 
the antenna arced to ground. I drew arcs of a quarter inch to ground 
after letting the antenna build charge for several minutes.

Both of these happened in blue sky dry but windy conditions.

Pat
wa4tuk

edben wrote:

> 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.
>
>
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