[PVRCNC] Elecraft K3 Lightning protection tip

[Roberts, Will]

Some of you have probably seen this which was originally posted on other reflectors, but I thought it was worth passing along as many of us are using K3 and K3S radios.

Note the last item in K9YC's  posting that suggests using ANT2 for all antenna connections (as the default power off setting is ANT1).



73,



Will AA4NC



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Here's my take on it. http://k9yc.com/GroundingAndAudio.pdf



Understand these fundamental concepts.



1) EVERYTHING in a premises must be bonded together. Separate grounds not bonded to others are a CAUSE of lightning damage. The principle is to allow everything in the premises to rise to the same (high) potential at the time of the strike.



2) NEVER use shunt mode surge protectors on branch circuits. They are a CAUSE of lightning damage. As an alternative, use either a "whole house"

protector at the service entrance, and/or SurgeX series mode protectors on branch circuits.



3) All antennas should be coax-fed, with shields bonded at a common entry point, with that point bonded to all premises grounds. That puts the shield at ground potential. Use an feed-through arrestor on each coax to short the center conductor to the shield. This limits the voltage at the RX input.



4) Carefully bond together the chassis of every piece of gear on your operating desk using short, fat copper. Bond from chassis to chassis in parallel with any audio and control cables running between them. This prevents a strike from exciting Pin One Problems, which would otherwise likely cause damage. Virtually ALL ham gear has Pin One Problems on audio and control connectors, including Elecraft rigs.



Here's an K3-specific trick that K6XX told me about. Use Ant2 for all bands, with antenna switching external to the radio. When you shut down the K3 (by turning them off, NOT by killing power), it will connect Ant1 to the radio, to which nothing is connected.



73, Jim K9YC