[ICOM] IC-756PROIII No Transmit ESD Failures

[W Halse]

" short ground jumpers, tied to the center neutral wire" ??????  The only
place the 
neutral and ground are tied together is at the main panel/service entrance.
Bonding a ground to the AC neutral anywhere else is a violation of the 
National Electric Code.

-----Original Message-----
From: icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
Behalf Of ALAN ZACK
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2010 2:08 PM
To: 'ICOM Reflector'
Subject: Re: [ICOM] IC-756PROIII No Transmit ESD Failures

Does anyone have an opinion of which suppressor does a better job, ICE or
PolyPhaser? Seems they don't actually work the exact same way.

BTW, I am in the same situation as Dick in Northern Nevada here in the Las
Vegas Valley. In the summer it is not uncommon to get a shock when getting
in or out of your car or opening a door with a metal handle. I have seen a
1/4 inch arc when touching my house key to the door lock. But this is mostly
in the summer. Right now when I had my latest ESD strike we have been having
record rain spells with the higher humidity associated with the dark clouds
over the valley. Just rain, no lightning or thunder. This is why I have 12
by 24 inch ESD mats on my computer desk and on the ham radio desk in front
of the rig. These mats have a snap on ground wire that is tied to ground.
These are the same ESD mats you would find on a ESD work bench. This is to
drain off any static electricity that may be on my body when I sit down at
these desks.

I have taken all these precautions with the ICE suppressors on the coax,
having a antenna switch that grounds all my antenna inputs and heavy duty
computer style AC power battery backup with surge suppressors that ALL my
ham gear (Rig P.S., rotor, table lamp, etc) are plugged into and still get
these ESD hits. There are no interface cables between the rig and a PC or
any other external devices. I work my little RTTY from the front panel of
the 756PROIII. Everything is linked together with short ground jumpers, tied
to the center neutral wire of the 220 volt connection in the shack for my
amp and to the 8 ft ground rod just outside the house wall. To me it is very
strange that I only get ESD hits when the rig is turned off and that the
receiver is not effected, only these T/R switching diodes. Seems if ESD was
getting thru the ant input the receiver preamps would also be blown. Only
transmit is affected. Last hit was during the ARRL DX SSB Contest. I was
SOLP 20 mtr only. When 20 mtrs went dead Sat night I turned off the rig. At
5:00 a.m. Sun, the very next morning I turned the rig on, tried to answer a
CQ and no power out. Hooked up the old IC-746 (non pro) and completed the
contest and still using the 746 until I decide what to do with the
756PROIII.

Alan, K7ACZ

-----Original Message-----
From: icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On
Behalf Of Dick Flanagan
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 1:14 PM
To: ICOM Reflector
Subject: Re: [ICOM] IC-756PROIII No Transmit ESD Failures

Where I am in the high desert of Northern Nevada I am more concerned 
with static build-up than I am with catastrophic lightning hits.  The 
ability to drain off static charges before they become large enough 
to damage my equipment seems very desirable.  Then again a 10 meg 
resister from the center conductor to ground would probably do the 
same thing, but I like the engineering of the I.C.E. units.

Dick

At 12:50 PM 3/12/2010, Gary P. Fiber wrote:
 >That I.C.E. 300 looks nice, a coil and gas discharge tube in parallel to
 >earth on the antenna side and a resistor to earth on the radio side.
 >Small voltages likely will not get by. Though it may not stop a huge
 >direct lightning hit but again not much will.
 >
 >Gary K8IZ
 >
 >On 3/12/2010 11:53 AM, Dick Flanagan wrote:
 >> The only place I have purchased I.C.E. gear is from the
 >> manufacturer.  http://www.iceradioproducts.com/ There may be other
 >> sources, but I haven't investigated them.  You could probably contact
 >> I.C.E. and ask them for a list of their retail dealers.
 >>
 >> Dick
 >> --
 >> Dick Flanagan K7VC
 >> dick at k7vc.com
--
Dick Flanagan K7VC
dick at k7vc.com


----
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