lighting and antennas

[silver runner]

I was just thinking, does anyone know how likely it is for a mobile or base antenna to get struck by lighting and if it did, what kind of damnage would it do to the radio.

[lonesome 500]

terminal.......more likely to hit something taller

i can testify to what happens to fiberglass base antennas

[linx]

lighting or lightning?

If your mobile gets hit by lightning, it will destroy your equipment. It will probably not hurt you unless you are touching metal as your tires are rubber.

For your base, you better have it well grounded with a 8ft co-p-per rod. If you have your equipment plugged in and you get hit by lightning, you will have the same results. Your equipment will be destroyed. If you have a fiberglass antenna, grounded or not, it will be destroyed as well. I'm not sure about aluminum. I'll let you know when my moonraker gets hit, lol. I have heard it will destroy your rotor regardless. They do make lightning arrestors, like the PolyPhaser, and I have mine installed, but you really never know if it'll work until it happens to you.

If you were refering to lighting, like a light fixture, then it doesn't hurt the equipment. I've knocked lights out at Checkers before, lol.

[Visegrip]

I have to agree with you Linx

When God drops the maul it will definitely get your attention

[Evan]

Make sure you unscrew your coax connection and hang it outside ( try to keep it dry) when a storm rolls in on the base station. I seen a A-99 get hit before, talk about a mess.

[intimidator_SS]

Given that a 1000ft long lighnting bolt has energy of about 100 terawatts thats equals 10^12 kw. Can you imagine 10 to the 12 power watts going straight into your radio? God must be runnin a SWP galaxy with a davemade amp the size of a football field

[Ranger Buck]

Question concerning antenna strikes. Can the lead coax be screwed into a 2 KW dummy load? (2 gallon oil can) instead of hanging out a window? Would the strike blow the dummy load up? if so the oil may destroy the equipment?
your replies & comments welcome.

3's
Buck

[North Texas Mudduck]

imagine a firecracker on the ground when it goes off

now take a firecracker put it in a bucket and stand beside it
no telling how hot the oil would be when it hit you and also the metal pieces flying around

[PONY EXPRESS]

I was just thinking, does anyone know how likely it is for a mobile or base antenna to get struck by lighting and if it did, what kind of damnage would it do to the radio.

devastation if your antenna is hit by lightning now lighting I have no idea.

I always unhook my antennas outside at home and have them grounded . In the car it stays always hooked up .
I have seen actual mobile antenna that got hit by mother nature and it destroyed the antenna and knocked out all the guys electronice. he survived the strike as he was in his car .

[pipsqueek]

I can tell you firsthand....devestating. Avoid getting hit....it's do-able (well, nothing is 100%),
but since I've applied what I had learned while working with a real smart cookie station engineer at a broadcast AM radio station years ago, my home station has gone unscaythed during the worst of storms.
Google this site on what I've written about it. It's late and typing sucks at this un-godly hour.
Pips

[Texas Mobil 219]

Im not for sure if lighting. But i lost a cobra 150. Disconnect your coax for your radio and put the end in a glass jar.

[721HACKSAW]

Please lets don't go down the "glass jar" road again, lightning destorys trees, bricks, melts metal, ect.... Why in the world would you think a small glass jar would prevent damage? Everything in this world is a conductor of electricity, it's just a matter of how much you force you put behind it. Disconnecting your coax and keeping your insurance premiums up to date are your best defense. Back out reading the mail.

[linx]

Wow! Old topic!

I am not using 1x Poly Phaser lightning arrestor and 3x ICE lightning arrestors. Know what I still do? I still unplug my coax. These conventional arrestors and surge protectors still won't really protect against lightning. Most of these devises have some sort of glass tubes that are supposed to shunt the current and some have electrical devices that are supposed to do the same. I'm here to tell ya that 100m volts is not going to be stopped by a gap in metal created by some type of shunting device. In most cases if something gets in the way of lightning, it goes around the device and keeps going. The ultimate protection is to unplug your equipment when not in use. Modern day arrestors are to keep current from back feeding into your radio, and to keep static electricity from coming back into the radio and damaging it.

[998]

Well I have not had to deal with this yet but it it does hit my antenna ill fill you guys in and i do know it will destroy your radoi and it can be fixed but your talking more money than its worth my tech in Va fixed a radio and it was a mess but he got it working again after replacing most of the radio but he did this just to see if he could as far as the coax i was once told to put it in a glass jar ?????? got me i just leave hooked up cause the chance of getting hit is like winning the lotto i guess we will find out one day till then i must keep on keeping on

[Texas Mobil 219]

Say hacksaw. Glass will prevent the electricity from bouncing all over the inside for your car or truck. That is if your the luck one to get hit. Ive seen what it can do to a amp and a cb. Pretty my melted them together and blow the batteries. Wasn't a pretty site to see 2000 bucks down the drain.

[Night Crawler]

Nothing will protect you from a direct hit.

[Grump]

I wonder if it hit your car and coax was plugged in would it blow out the computer in the car you know through the power leads

[PONY EXPRESS]

lighting or lightning?

If your mobile gets hit by lightning, it will destroy your equipment. It will probably not hurt you unless you are touching metal as your tires are rubber.

For your base, you better have it well grounded with a 8ft co-p-per rod. If you have your equipment plugged in and you get hit by lightning, you will have the same results. Your equipment will be destroyed. If you have a fiberglass antenna, grounded or not, it will be destroyed as well. I'm not sure about aluminum. I'll let you know when my moonraker gets hit, lol. I have heard it will destroy your rotor regardless. They do make lightning arrestors, like the PolyPhaser, and I have mine installed, but you really never know if it'll work until it happens to you.

If you were refering to lighting, like a light fixture, then it doesn't hurt the equipment. I've knocked lights out at Checkers before, lol.

One thing we do on our rotator is we have a 8 PIN quick disconnect plug at the base of the tower so lightning can not come in via the rotor cable HEE HEE!

[jessejamesdallas]

Got news for you guys...pending on the lightning bolt...But if it's a BIG BOLT, even if your coax is unscrewed, stuck in a glass jar, or coiled up outside somewhere, the bolt can jump right into everything electrical in your house, and destroy everything! CB Radios included!

I have a uncle that had his tower hit, and he had disconnected the radio because he knew there was a bad electrical storm on the way. But it didn't do a bit of good, the lightning jumped from the tower to the electrical wire going into the house and fried everything from his radio, to the AC, TV's, dishwasher, refrigerator, phones, and I think it even got my aunt's vibrator!

Best thing to do, would be to have a crank-up tower or pole, that you could lower in the event of a storm...But even then, there's no such thing as being totally safe from Mother Nature...

[PONY EXPRESS]

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[jessejamesdallas]

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See what I mean! You could actually see the lightning jump off that bike, right into the guys hand!

[firefyter]

The glass jar thing is a hoax....if it comes through your coax and into the jar, you'll be picking glass up for a long time.

[Texas Mobil 219]

Well i haven't seen what lightning will do when it come down the coax into a glass jar. Ive herd it will give you alittle protection from a hit.

But what i can tell you. That my Cobra 150 and a 250 watt driver and and a 16 pill smoker pretty much melted to there chassis. Not a pretty site. Alot of money gone.

JJd is right nothing will protect you from a direct hit. The movie clip is prof of what can happen on a non direct hit.

[998]

If you get hit you will know not a good thing but yea ground everything out not that its going to save you but just do it

[pipsqueek]

"The glass jar thing is a hoax"....... No it's not. It may not offer protection from all strikes but it will offer some. Before I had my ground system and lightning protection up to the point I have it now, I used to use an old heavy milk bottle for the coax ends. I had it wrapped with rubber electical tape and then with vinyl tape. Had it sitting in a heavy ceramic flowerpot bottom and that on top of a small sheet of rainbow rubber. I would throw a ground lead into the jar hoping that, if anything happened, the lead would be the path to take.
My receive long wire was hit years ago and vaporized. The coax end was destroyed. There was some flashout of the jar as I found scorch marks on my tuner (it was toast).
....The glass jar held together... on inspection, I found that the bottom of it had melted and re-solidified. It was all bubbled up and distorted.
I now have the more elaborate lightning system I spoke of in place and ....yes, a new glass bottle (just in case).
Pips