[geeks] Whee! Lightning strikes, AGAIN!

[wa2egp at att.net]

> I'd like to erect a tower in my yard, but I'm honestly afraid of what
> it would do, lightning-wise... I agree there is something about my
> location that makes it the best conductor around, but while a tower
> would change the dynamics, I'm not sure if it will dissipate or
> attract future lightning strikes.

Hard to determine which.  If what these guys are saying is correct, it might attract.  There have been some articles in QST recently addressed that very issue.  I'm not saying a damn thing so I don't get grief. :-]  At one house I lived at, I had a 75 mtr dipole about 50 feet up and a tree about 30 feet away took a direct strike.  No equipment damage.  Although I never measured before, the garbage cans had a strong magnetic polarity after.  They were 20 feet away. :-]

> I think my hardware was killed by an EMP, because the computers work
> fine, except the NICs - every NIC (save one, so far) that had a wire
> of any length attached to it is DEAD. A power surge would have taken
> out the computer AND the NIC, but that didn't happen. The two TVs that
> were hit are CRTs, the flat panels (actually rear projection and
> plasma) are fine. I suspect the CRT somehow "collected" enough energy
> to kill the set. The garage door opener and A/C controller had
> electronics that weren't very well protected (compared with, say, a
> sealed up, grounded, PC chassis).
> 
> The dead switches, router, and cable modem all power on, but have dead
> NIC ports, again, discounting the idea a power surge came in the power
> line in my mind.

I'd agree with you on that.  But lightning is just freaky stuff since it has a good RF component and just doesn't act like expected.  See above.

Bob