Well, John, let's just say, I'm much more careful about grounding things and
unplugging things that I used to be, haha.
Phil.
K0NX
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 3:32 PM
Subject: Re: Surge Protector For Breaker Box
> The way I figure it, a direct hit is a direct hit and very little if
> anything will survive it. However, taking precautions is the best way to
> minimize the chances of that direct hit maximizing damage, and will do a
> lot
> of good with lesser hits. In other words, no one can tell you did
> something
> wrong.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 12, 2011 5:24 PM
> Subject: Surge Protector For Breaker Box
>
>
>> I've never known if they helped or not but I had the money recently, so =
>> I bought a breaker box surge protector for 128. This one is made by G E
>> =
>> and was made for the box I have. It makes me feel better but I don't =
>> know if it will help protect the house or not. This week Denver has had
>> =
>> some horribly powerful thunderstorms dropping down into the valley of =
>> Denver off the mountains with lots and lots of cloud to ground strikes =
>> and some very close. We lost power for 4 hours and that never goes that
>> =
>> long. 24,000 Denver customers were without power for hours and the next
>> =
>> day, still 5,000 customers were off the grid. I took a direct lightning
>> =
>> strike many years ago when I had two towers. The 65 foot tower had a 26
>> =
>> foot vertical on top of it and in mid August, of all things, we had the =
>> worst dry lightning storm I've ever witnessed. I took a direct hit on =
>> the vertical. It blew the top three feet off the antenna. All antennas
>> =
>> were grounded but I was leaning up against my metal office desk and just
>> =
>> three feet from my coax switch that had all antennas switched to a =
>> direct ground. It had the common unplugged from the switch , too, so no
>> =
>> equipment was directly connected. It flashed over three feet from me =
>> and as I said, the desk was metal. My ears rang for an hour. Bulbs =
>> popped in the house, some diodes popped in my Ten Tec, a phone burned =
>> out, and every single breaker in my box tripped off. I actually said to
>> =
>> a friend standing in the room, "Am I still alive?" So this week, with =
>> all the afternoon storms, I've felt like maybe I was a little more =
>> protected. G E had, for my box, a 34 dollar surge protector, but =
>> logically, I figured the more expensive one was better. Typical ham.
>>
>> Phil.
>> K0NX
>
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