Phil asked Ben for an interview and was told to "go fly a kite" 

73, Mark
 


Mark J. Senk  |  412-386-6513  |  [log in to unmask] 
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-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 2:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: How much power in a lightning strike? RE: Lightning Arresters

Phil,

So when you did your  lightening paper way back in high school, were you able to interview Ben Franklin regarding his experiments  with lightening?

73, Steve KW3A
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: How much power in a lightning strike? RE: Lightning Arresters


>I did a research paper in high school on lightning and I have watched
> several lightning specials on satellite channels over the years, plus, as
> mentioned earlier, I was three feet from a lightning flash over, for what
> that is worth, but according to one of the articles I read for my research
> paper, lightning bolts can have up to 1 billion volts and 500 amps of 
> power.
> This generally , according to what I have read, is the extreme high end of
> the rating but you can be 20 miles distant from a storm and still be 
> struck
> by a lightning bolt.  I've also been about 75 feet from a telephone pole
> that was hit by lightning.  One of the problems of being struck seems to 
> be
> if you are carrying an Ipod, a cellphone, or any electronic device based
> upon the bulk of the research to date.  I carry my cell phone with a clip 
> on
> the back of it and clip it to my shirt pocket, instead of a belt clip,
> because that way I don't keep brushing the phone off my belt when passing
> too closely to a table or chair.  So, in short, if I'm hit, maybe my heart
> will be the focus of the strike.  Ball lightning I have confirmed by two
> different people.  One was a Nebraska farmer who saw lightning strike a
> tree, roll down to the ground in a ball, and literally roll along the 
> ground
> until it hit a fence post or something sticking up in its way and then
> exploded as it that was where it hit in the first place.  Another farmer
> friend watched from the house as lightning, in New York, struck the 
> ground,
> bounced 4 and 5 times into the air, and then finally exploded.  That's 
> some
> pretty weird plasma that I don't want to be around when it hits.
>
> Phil.
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Subject: Re: How much power in a lightning strike? RE: Lightning Arresters
>