At 11:21 PM 3/20/2005 -0800, Randall wrote:
>
>> There are 2 primiary causes,
>> surges (and or lags) from the electric company,
>
>Hate to say it John, but I disagree with almost everything you've said here,
>starting with surges coming from the electric company and continuing through
>there being no way to protect against lightning strikes. Every TV, radio and
>cell phone transmitter in the country remains on-line through a thunderstorm,
>not to mention all the electronics in hospitals and most computer centers.
>
>If you're losing a repeater every time you take a lightning hit, then
something
>(probably your antenna) isn't properly grounded. All it takes is a spark
gap to
>a good ground to knock lightning hits down to something that can be
handled by
>high-energy MOVs and transorbs. And of course you've got a serious lightning
>rod _above_ your antenna, right ?
Randall,
I wasn't trying to imply that we lost the equipment everytime, and yes we do
have lightening arrestors on the antennas. However, based on the need for
(emergency) service the cost may be worth the loss of equipment.
My understanding is that if a MOV is that it is a one time item. When hit by
a surge, it will basically die - like a fuse.
Yes comercial equipment will stay (or try to stay) on line during a storm.
The companies calculate the loss of equipment into their budgets and pass the
cost on to the users. Don't know about where you live, but I've seen our
local TV stations knocked off the air more than once during a thunder storm.
They do loose equipment! Not all of it, not everytime, but the do loose
equipment.
For home use, it usually isn't worth the gamble. For a cheap TV, DVD player
and cordless phone, I'd leave then plugged into both power and signal -
cable or telephone line. But I won't leave my computer connected. While the
cost of the equipment is getting cheaper, I won't risk loosing the data.
I can live with an hour or two of down time. And go watch the TV. :)
John
John T. Blair WA4OHZ email: jblair1948@cox.net
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