Lightning!!!!

[80 meter man]

I had a near strike hear last week. I never saw it but I know it happened because it took out my 2 meter antenna! I know this is not CB related but lightning can take out any

antenna. I didn't have an arrestor on it when I should have!! I'm just writing this to let people know that even a near strike can damage a radio. I was lucky the strike only took out

my antenna and not my Kenwood TS-2000! If you don't have a lightning arrestor on all your coax lines get them ASAP!!!! Even the cheap ones can save your rig but no guaranty

even with the high dollar units but there better than nothing!! The 2 meter antenna I had was 3 5/8wave antennas stacked one on top of another. The sections were attached with

capacitors. The lightning took out all the caps. The rest of the antenna looks OK but it can't be used as is. I called Jet Stream to get the specs on the caps and guess what they had

no idea??? They told my they would call China and get back to me? Ya right!!!!!!!! I might end up replacing the entire antenna for two 10 cent caps!! The antenna I have is 17 foot 6

inches and is a copy of a Diamond unit model number--X-510MA. Anybody have any experience with what the value of these caps might be?? If so any help would be greatly

appreciated!! Thank you.

[linx]

I haven't used that antenna, but I was going to chime in and tell ya, that I use PolyPhaser lightning arrestors on all my equipment, and they're outside of my house. I hope they help out. I still unplug it all during a storm, but I have heard great reviews on these arrestors. Just FYI.

[Mentor3006]

Okay, here is a stupid thought. Unless you unplug when the radio is not in use, and plug back in to use the radio, you will never be guaranteed to not have the radio plugged in during a storm. They crop up here so suddenly, and so often that it is impossible to know when they are going to hit... chances are for example, I would be at work when one hit. Hardly a chance to disconnect...

[Slim Jim]

I know it's probably very unnecessary, but I've always been so paranoid that I unplug all my power supplies and radios from the wall and coax, then I put the coax into an old glass milk bottle on the floor behind my desk. Will sliding the coax into a non-conducting container like that bottle help at all, or am I better off doing something different? I generally do this every morning before I leave the house, unless I'm certain that the forecast is nothing but sunny.

[80 meter man]

You guys are doing the right thing by unplugging your radios. I don't but I should. I'm home all the time and I want to be able to turn my radio on when ever I want to with out hooking up several cables. This is my own fault and I hope I never loose a radio. I do however unplug when I hear storms approaching. The best thing to do with the loose cable is to ground it. That way if you do get a hit the charge will go directly to ground. Having a loose piece of coax hanging in your house during a storm is very dangerous. I hope nobody is standing near it during a strike!

[Evan]

Coax in a glass jar is not a good ideal unless you want glass sprayed of over the place, it happen to a friend of my dads once along time ago.

[Slim Jim]

yeah, I may change that policy! I've thought about just throwing it into the bathroom on the tile floor and just let it do it's thing, buy I really don't know about that either! lol, anyway, what's a good way to "ground" the coax inside your house? Would it work if you put it onto a dummy load filled with that oil? I just need a safe and relatively easy place to stick the end during storms...

[linx]

Okay, here is a stupid thought. Unless you unplug when the radio is not in use, and plug back in to use the radio, you will never be guaranteed to not have the radio plugged in during a storm. They crop up here so suddenly, and so often that it is impossible to know when they are going to hit... chances are for example, I would be at work when one hit. Hardly a chance to disconnect...

When you have multiple radios, and talk on one at a time, it's easy to leave the others unplugged.

I unplug my coax, and unplug from the wall, every single time I walk away from the radio with intent of not talking. If I go to the restroom, of course, I leave it plugged in, and on. If I go watch tv, I turn off the equip, and unplug. If I am going to leave my office/radio room for more than a few minutes, I unplug all my equip. When you have a 3 year old, you learn to do so even if you're not afraid of lightning, lol.

It's like anything in life. It sucks to do some things, but when you start out doing it right, then it turns into a routine, and is just a way of life.

I don't unplug my equip in the truck however, but have thought of doing so.