Hey Dave,
I thought
high current loops were the antennas to start fires??? Nice picture.
Mike>WE0H
http://www.we0h.us/lf.html
-----Original
Message-----
From:
[email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Dave Pick
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002
11:14 AM
To: LF Group
Subject: LF: Flaming aerials!
Dear
all, especially Peter.
I had a
bit of a problem on 73k today, the TX started tripping during my QSO with G3LDO
at about 12:30. Eventually I had to reduce the power to a few hundred Watts to
sign off.
I went
outside, down the full length of the garden to the ATU to see if anything was
wrong. All seemed well but I could hear a "crackling" noise and
couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I eventually looked up at the top
of the tree where the aerial passed over a perspex "Y" on the top of
the pole... It was alight! A couple of years worth of polution must have made
it conductive enough for the RF to arc through it to the metal supporting pole
(which is earthed). I watched it with trepidation lest any burning pieces
should drop off and set light to the tree, luckily this didn't happen and
eventually it went out.
I have
since replaced the top piece with a new design, let's see how long that lasts!
This
sort of thing always happens when I "fire-up" on 73k, the Voltages
are just so high..
You can
just see the flames on this picture.
http://www.wireless.org.uk/images/firesky2.jpg
73.
Dave
G3YXM.
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