Lightning strikes

[JA Crux]

My K2 (and I) took a small hit whilst at relatively great altitude in ZS6.  At
over 5000 feet storms creep up on you fast and I did not see this one coming
until it was almost too late. There was a crack; the K2 went completely dead
and there was a small arc as I unplugged everything and threw the antenna
cable away from the K2. I escaped with a tingle .... my xyl would perhaps say
my thick skin helped.
But unlike a well-known and much more expensive Japanese rig in similar
circumstances, the K2 came back to life after being switched off for a few
minutes. Power diodes are evidently very much tougher than PIN diodes ...
(My host's Japanese radio has had its front end done in at least twice now by
static discharges ....)
Good luck --- John G3JAG

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[Coote, Jay]

I wonder if an RF choke across the antenna and ground terminals might
give some protection?
Jay

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of JACrux
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2005 12:27 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] Lightning strikes

My K2 (and I) took a small hit whilst at relatively great altitude in
ZS6.  At over 5000 feet storms creep up on you fast and I did not see
this one coming until it was almost too late. There was a crack; the K2
went completely dead and there was a small arc as I unplugged everything
and threw the antenna cable away from the K2. I escaped with a tingle
.... my xyl would perhaps say my thick skin helped.
But unlike a well-known and much more expensive Japanese rig in similar
circumstances, the K2 came back to life after being switched off for a
few minutes. Power diodes are evidently very much tougher than PIN
diodes ...
(My host's Japanese radio has had its front end done in at least twice
now by static discharges ....) Good luck --- John G3JAG

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[Stuart Rohre]

 A choke will bleed off the static charges, but can be easily blown by too
much static voltage opening the winding.  Instead put a 100,000 ohm 2 watt
resistor across the feed line.  It will allow the full power RF to pass, but
take the static to ground, if the line feeder is coax.  If not coax, put a
resistor from each balanced conductor to ground.

Stuart
K5KVH



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