[geeks] Lightning question

[wa2egp at att.net]

 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Lionel Peterson <lionel4287 at verizon.net>
> Quick question: We recently had a serious lightning storm not just near by, but 
> actually in our backyard! A tree on our property was struck, and now is spread 
> out across the backyard (oddly, the bark was "blown off", and a chunk of the 
> tree about 5-6' tall was knocked out, and shot across the yard about 10 yards.
> 
> Anyway, when I got in my car the day after the storm (I keep my car on the 
> driveway about 100-150 feet from the tree that was struck) my clock was set to 
> 00:00. I guess there was a massive electromagnetic field that included the car 
> when the tree was struck. The clock is fine in the car, but here is my question:
> 
> Would it make sense that my 100-150 foot Cat5E cable run from my den to my 
> basement switch would "kill" a switch port?

In a word, yes.  If the car clock reset with semi-shielded wires no longer than 
six feet (a lot shorter I would guess) then that 100 foot cable made a hell of
an antenna and could have had quite a voltage induced on it.

> I have a long cable run between two 24 port switches, and on the switch in the 
> basement the port the cable run ran into is "dead". When I switched the cable to 
> another port on the switch connectivity was re-established, but in the original 
> port, there was no connectivity between the switches.
> 
> Any thoughts? I'm afraid that I'm trying to be too clever - the port could have 
> just died on the switch, but I tend to think that the lightning had SOME impact.
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Lionel

You're lucky you didn't have more damage than you did.  I've had worse damage
due to nearby lightning strikes.  My "office" now has spike protectors on 
everything........and I mean everything.  :)

Bob