Return-Path: Received: (qmail 2262 invoked from network); 28 Jun 2001 08:15:16 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO warrior-inbound.servers.plus.net) (212.159.14.227) by excalibur-qfe1-smtp-plusnet.harl.plus.net with SMTP; 28 Jun 2001 08:15:16 -0000 Received: (qmail 11833 invoked from network); 28 Jun 2001 08:15:30 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO post.thorcom.com) (212.172.148.70) by warrior with SMTP; 28 Jun 2001 08:15:30 -0000 X-Priority: 3 Received: from majordom by post.thorcom.com with local (Exim 3.16 #2) id 15FWkW-0003zm-00 for rsgb_lf_group-outgoing@blacksheep.org; Thu, 28 Jun 2001 09:02:04 +0100 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal Received: from [213.2.16.106] (helo=rsgb.org.uk) by post.thorcom.com with esmtp (Exim 3.16 #2) id 15FWkT-0003zh-00 for rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org; Thu, 28 Jun 2001 09:02:01 +0100 Received: from miked by rsgb.org.uk with SMTP (MDaemon.PRO.v4.0.0.R) for ; Thu, 28 Jun 2001 08:57:51 +0100 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 From: "Mike Dennison" To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 08:57:50 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Subject: LF: Lightning Message-ID: <3B3AF18E.19154.AE39A@localhost> X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12c) X-Return-Path: miked@mail X-MDaemon-Deliver-To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org Precedence: bulk Reply-To: rsgb_lf_group@blacksheep.org X-Listname: rsgb_lf_group Sender: Not another theoretical piece about lightning damage. This is for real. Last night we had a bad storm for about an hour - I even saw QRN dots on my cable TV. At 0000 UTC there was a huge bang and the air smelled of burning. The mains power went off for a second but came back. The antenna was undamaged, but my 136kHz pre-amp is not working and, more seriously, the mains socket that runs the 'shack' has no power on it. The fuses are fine so I suspect the wiring or the double socket! All domestic applicances are safe, including the computer which was running at the time. The antenna runs into a toroidal transformer so is always earthed and DC isolated from the Tx/Rx. I presume that the nearby lightning strike induced enough 136kHz RF into the resonant antenna to blow the pre-amp up. This is spark transmission at its most powerful. More info when I have done a post-mortem (autopsy). Mike, G3XDV (IO91VT) http://www.lf.thersgb.net