| Author |
Message |
    
Hawkeye
Member
Username: Hawkeye
Post Number: 78
Registered: 5-2006
| | Posted on Saturday, August 08, 2015 - 4:51 pm: | 
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Lightning wiped me out recently and all radio equipment took a hit oh well new galaxy 949 from copper this week doing really good skip contacts all over am and ssb, thanks copper. |
Wire_saber
New member
Username: Wire_saber
Post Number: 8
Registered: 4-2015
| | Posted on Sunday, August 09, 2015 - 12:39 am: |
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Sorry for your loss, but glad to see you are here to tell about it. Were you nearby when it happened? Can you tell whether the surge came through the ground or through the coaxial or both? How high was your antenna? I lived in Tampa (highly prone to lightning) for 20+ years, and it was a tedious routine to disconnect before electrical storms. |
Press_man
Advanced Member
Username: Press_man
Post Number: 873
Registered: 5-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, August 09, 2015 - 7:31 pm: |
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Hawkeye, sorry you lost your equipment!
Wire saber, you're in Tampa huh? Look east toward Vero Beach, that's where I hang my hat. Lot of lightning strikes here in FL.
73 Pressman
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Moderator120
Moderator
Username: Moderator120
Post Number: 773
Registered: 11-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 10, 2015 - 4:03 pm: |
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Never good when your station takes a hit!
Moderater 120
KB1NYD
CVC#0041
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Wire_saber
New member
Username: Wire_saber
Post Number: 9
Registered: 4-2015
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 - 12:29 am: |
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Hi there Press Man: I lived in Tampa till 2007, but my first three years in Florida (before living in Tampa) were spent between Cape Canaveral and Malabar, so I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. I used to install/ maintain antennas in that corridor, and often witnessed the pulverization of comm equipment due to heavy lightning. Proper grounding is a challenge everywhere, but it takes a mystical spin when done in Florida. I'm always curious about chasing the surge, as there appears to be no definite pattern. That's why I've asked Hawkeye to share his observations. 73's |
Press_man
Advanced Member
Username: Press_man
Post Number: 874
Registered: 5-2008
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 - 6:38 pm: |
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I was in Freeport Bahama one day in '83. We had rented a Piper Saratoga for tach time plus fuel. We spent quite a while at the casino and it was getting close to lunch. Very few places at the time to get American food. So we found the only burger joint on Freeport. Wasn't a cloud in the sky till we got finished with lunch and were ready to leave. Suddenly----BOOM! Horizontal lightning, I felt it in my chest and it made my ears pop. It hit the side on the building and I had just let loose of the door handle. Had to check my shorts on that one.
Another time I was driving past some stores here. It was pouring rain and lightning hit the road just behind my P'up tailgate. I don't like driving in storms anymore.
I've lost a few antennas and mucho coax over the years to lightning. Not anything to play with!
That makes me do as much to the electrical code as possible, even with that, you can still take a hit. Stuff can come up or go down or sideways.
73 Pressman
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Wire_saber
Junior Member
Username: Wire_saber
Post Number: 10
Registered: 4-2015
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 - 12:01 am: |
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Your burger story at Freeport made me recall a hunger pang I had at the Jolly Harbor Marina in Antigua. It is not a lightning story, but there were so many flies around that I had to run to the car (no way to eat it at the joint). Never bought another burger there.
Close encounters of a similar type that you described, have taught me to respect mother nature's sparks. I was caught by surprise while holding a light-weight aluminum antenna atop a 40' tower in Lima, Peru. The strike was far away, but the pins & needles sensation was strongly felt in external areas of the body that have abundance of lose skin tissue. My coworker and I broke the speed record descending from the tower. What I've learned is that there is a practical use for ground and lightning rods to dissipate secondary and tertiary branches of a main bolt. Prayer and luck are the only alternatives for a direct hit, especially of the kind seen in Florida. |
Milkman21218
Advanced Member
Username: Milkman21218
Post Number: 636
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, August 15, 2015 - 2:09 am: |
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Hawkeye sorry for your loss. I had that happen to me in 96. I know it's not a good feeling. But my home owners insurance took care of all the damages. Even had my replacement antenna installed.
Izzy
CEF#502
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Press_man
Advanced Member
Username: Press_man
Post Number: 875
Registered: 5-2008
| | Posted on Friday, August 28, 2015 - 5:51 pm: |
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Welp,
Here we are looking at another storm here in Florida. Hoping it shears apart in the Dominican mountains.
73 Pressman
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Press_man
Advanced Member
Username: Press_man
Post Number: 876
Registered: 5-2008
| | Posted on Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 1:59 pm: |
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Got a welcome surprise this AM. Tropical Storm Erika was torn apart over the mountains and is no more, can I get a Hallelujah Amen.
73 Pressman
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Wire_saber
Junior Member
Username: Wire_saber
Post Number: 16
Registered: 4-2015
| | Posted on Saturday, August 29, 2015 - 7:04 pm: |
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Press Man: Celebrate your luck! A couple of weeks ago, I stressed while watching my Gain Master whipping against the winds of a 60 to 80 MPH storm. It's humbling to feel so defenseless against mother nature, but I was saved by the bell. Just a few days earlier, I had dropped the GM for maintenance, and added reinforcing nylon (parachute) cord before reinstalling it. I'm convinced that the cord held and saved the antenna from snapping. I would trust the GM up to 40-50 MPH winds without reinforcement. The $18 spent on parachute cord, saved me the cost of a new GM (now at $200+ with S&H) |
Press_man
Advanced Member
Username: Press_man
Post Number: 877
Registered: 5-2008
| | Posted on Monday, August 31, 2015 - 6:54 pm: |
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Yep; been there on the loss thing from storms.
When Francis and Jean went through here, the first one took the roof. We lost all the furniture clothes, everything that wasn't in plastic bins, all antennas were destroyed but the tower survived.
Two weeks later, FEMA put a travel trailer in our front yard. We lived in it for 18 months and finally got back in the house with so much to replace.
We've been in the house since, but, when storm season comes, I get stressed.
73 Pressman
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