K3: Added protection for RS-232 port (summary)

[Pete Smith N4ZR]

Thanks to the Elecrafters who responded with a raft of good ideas.  That
included W8JI, W4TV, K9YC, W9AC, N7MG, NN4X, KX4O, W3FPR, and AI4VZ
(more or less in the order in which they responded.  I hope I have
understood and can render all the input correctly

Consensus seems to be that grounding, particularly making sure that all
chassis are bonded together with the station entry panel and the
powerline ground, is the best protection.  I think this likely is where
I went wrong, because I had just completed the radio and had not yet
grounded it to my station bus, which is 3/4" copper pipe behind the
radios, wired to the station entry panel with heavy copper.  As I write
this I'm in the midst of going through my station to make sure that
everything is properly grounded.

Several people provided ideas for component level protection, but W9AC
found the Tripp-Lite DB9, which is a nicely packaged in-line protector
that (they say) use "balanced arrays of high-speed avalanche diodes" to
shunt the energy to ground.  At $20 including shipping (Newegg was the
cheapest I found) it can't hurt.  I probably couldn't build it that
cheaply, and it might help, particularly in combination with the
grounding improvements.

--
73, Pete N4ZR

The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at www.conteststations.com
The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net, blog at reversebeacon.blogspot.com,
spots at telnet.reversebeacon.net, port 7000

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[W8JI]

> Consensus seems to be that grounding, particularly making sure that all
> chassis are bonded together with the station entry panel and the
> powerline ground, is the best protection.  I think this likely is where
> I went wrong, because I had just completed the radio and had not yet
> grounded it to my station bus, which is 3/4" copper pipe behind the
> radios, wired to the station entry panel with heavy copper.  As I write
> this I'm in the midst of going through my station to make sure that
> everything is properly grounded.

Pete,

If you think of everything in terms of not having currents loop between
different things on the desk, you would be much better off. If we think of
it as grounding the strike, we can easily get into trouble.

With a second floor station I would have the entrance, if not really an
entrance but an outside plate, at ground level outside and bonded to the
mains ground. Then I would bring all the shack radio and computer power to
that panel and MOV and ground it there, and bring everything (including any
ground) in a bundle from that point upstairs. I would do a single point
common at the desk and ONLY ground that point back to the lower entrance
with a ground in, over, or along that bundle. The idea being to not create a
loop.

My contest barn is that way, because the station is on the second floor. My
house is similar.

The last thing you want is a big open loop, or a ground lead that routes in
a way that encourages things to flow between power and control cables, and
especially between different pieces of gear.

I've not had a failure with my K3 (or anything else inside the buildings)
even though everything stays connected to all the cables, including antenna,
control, and computer, and I've had dozens of lightning hits here just this
year alone.

 73 Tom

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Pete,

The "Tripp-Lite DB9" seems to be a good solution!
No work necessary inside the K3.
Will find a representative in Switzerland or do
a direct order.

Thanks for valuable information!

Best 73,

Rudolf, HB9ARI

Pete Smith wrote:

> Thanks to the Elecrafters who responded with a raft of good ideas.  That
> included W8JI, W4TV, K9YC, W9AC, N7MG, NN4X, KX4O, W3FPR, and AI4VZ
> (more or less in the order in which they responded.  I hope I have
> understood and can render all the input correctly
>
> Consensus seems to be that grounding, particularly making sure that all
> chassis are bonded together with the station entry panel and the
> powerline ground, is the best protection.  I think this likely is where
> I went wrong, because I had just completed the radio and had not yet
> grounded it to my station bus, which is 3/4" copper pipe behind the
> radios, wired to the station entry panel with heavy copper.  As I write
> this I'm in the midst of going through my station to make sure that
> everything is properly grounded.
>
> Several people provided ideas for component level protection, but W9AC
> found the Tripp-Lite DB9, which is a nicely packaged in-line protector
> that (they say) use "balanced arrays of high-speed avalanche diodes" to
> shunt the energy to ground.  At $20 including shipping (Newegg was the
> cheapest I found) it can't hurt.  I probably couldn't build it that
> cheaply, and it might help, particularly in combination with the
> grounding improvements.
>
>  

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Ok Pete !

Have a nice day.

73, Rudolf

Pete Smith wrote:

> Glad you found it useful, Rudolph.  It will be important with this
> unit that the chassis of your computer is well grounded to the same
> reference point as the chassis of your transceiver, because Tripp Lite
> says that the incoming pulse is diverted to ground through the cable
> to the computer end.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
>
> The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at
> www.conteststations.com
> The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net, blog at
> reversebeacon.blogspot.com,
> spots at telnet.reversebeacon.net, port 7000
>
>
> On 7/19/2010 5:02 PM, hb9ari wrote:
>> Pete,
>>
>> The "Tripp-Lite DB9" seems to be a good solution!
>> No work necessary inside the K3.
>> Will find a representative in Switzerland or do
>> a direct order.
>>
>> Thanks for valuable information!
>>
>> Best 73,
>>
>> Rudolf, HB9ARI
>>
>> Pete Smith wrote:
>>  
>>> Thanks to the Elecrafters who responded with a raft of good ideas.  
>>> That
>>> included W8JI, W4TV, K9YC, W9AC, N7MG, NN4X, KX4O, W3FPR, and AI4VZ
>>> (more or less in the order in which they responded.  I hope I have
>>> understood and can render all the input correctly
>>>
>>> Consensus seems to be that grounding, particularly making sure that all
>>> chassis are bonded together with the station entry panel and the
>>> powerline ground, is the best protection.  I think this likely is where
>>> I went wrong, because I had just completed the radio and had not yet
>>> grounded it to my station bus, which is 3/4" copper pipe behind the
>>> radios, wired to the station entry panel with heavy copper.  As I write
>>> this I'm in the midst of going through my station to make sure that
>>> everything is properly grounded.
>>>
>>> Several people provided ideas for component level protection, but W9AC
>>> found the Tripp-Lite DB9, which is a nicely packaged in-line protector
>>> that (they say) use "balanced arrays of high-speed avalanche diodes" to
>>> shunt the energy to ground.  At $20 including shipping (Newegg was the
>>> cheapest I found) it can't hurt.  I probably couldn't build it that
>>> cheaply, and it might help, particularly in combination with the
>>> grounding improvements.
>>>
>>>
>>>      
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>
>>
>>    
>

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