I have a discone antenna on my roof and the mast is grounded to the
earth with #8 solid wire with a ground rod.
I want to use lmr-400 wire for app 50 ft to the scanner. Is it
necessary to install the cable with an in-line arrestor ? I hate to
have to add more connectors if it isnt necessary...I always unplug the
scanner from my cable, rg-58, when Im not using it.....Any
thoughts.....Thanks Mike

Mike wrote:
I have a discone antenna on my roof and the mast is grounded to the
earth with #8 solid wire with a ground rod.
I want to use lmr-400 wire for app 50 ft to the scanner. Is it
necessary to install the cable with an in-line arrestor ? I hate to
have to add more connectors if it isnt necessary...I always unplug the
scanner from my cable, rg-58, when Im not using it.....Any
thoughts.....Thanks Mike

Well, it's up to you. An arrester is going to be safer than
no arrester, but if you are unplugging, maybe you don't need
it . But even then, that depends if you actually throw the coax
outside when not in use. If you do, maybe you can get by,
assuming you never forget to unplug. But if you are just unplugging
and leaving it in the room, I'd for sure have an arrester.
You do not want an unprotected direct path to the house interior..
No bueno! I don't use arresters, but I'm cheap, and I always
ground the unused coax's *outside* to a strip of grounded SO-239's.
My mast is grounded well also. I've taken two direct strikes that
I'm aware of, and have had no damage at all to anything. Most goes
to ground at the mast, and whatever is left on the feedlines goes to
ground at the window ground. Both grounds are tied together and are
the same appx potential. Some energy does go to ground at the window.
I can hear it arc on mast strikes, or sometimes even close indirect
strikes.
You wouldn't really want that in the house with you unprotected.
MK

On 27 Jul 2006 02:37:29 -0700, wrote:


Mike wrote:
I have a discone antenna on my roof and the mast is grounded to the
earth with #8 solid wire with a ground rod.
I want to use lmr-400 wire for app 50 ft to the scanner. Is it
necessary to install the cable with an in-line arrestor ? I hate to
have to add more connectors if it isnt necessary...I always unplug the
scanner from my cable, rg-58, when Im not using it.....Any
thoughts.....Thanks Mike

Well, it's up to you. An arrester is going to be safer than
no arrester, but if you are unplugging, maybe you don't need
it . But even then, that depends if you actually throw the coax
outside when not in use. If you do, maybe you can get by,
assuming you never forget to unplug. But if you are just unplugging
and leaving it in the room, I'd for sure have an arrester.
You do not want an unprotected direct path to the house interior..
No bueno! I don't use arresters, but I'm cheap, and I always
ground the unused coax's *outside* to a strip of grounded SO-239's.
My mast is grounded well also. I've taken two direct strikes that
I'm aware of, and have had no damage at all to anything. Most goes
to ground at the mast, and whatever is left on the feedlines goes to
ground at the window ground. Both grounds are tied together and are
the same appx potential. Some energy does go to ground at the window.
I can hear it arc on mast strikes, or sometimes even close indirect
strikes.
You wouldn't really want that in the house with you unprotected.
MK

About three years ago I disconnected my dipole antenna from my IC-706
and tossed the pl-259 connector into my plastic trash can. A little
later the power went out and I heard a sizzle. The white trash can
was glowing from the arcs going across the connector. It wasn't
bright, but in the dark it was noticeable. There wasn't any lightning
or thunder at that time. It really got me to thinking about what the
radio would be like if i had left it plugged in. I unplug my rigs
much more often now.

Buck
n4pgw



--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 05:50:23 -0400, Buck wrote:

It really got me to thinking about what the
radio would be like if i had left it plugged in. I unplug my rigs
much more often now.

Hi Buck,

Did it get you to thinking about how you replaced the path to ground
at the time you were unpluggin your rigs?

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 09:21:41 -0700, Richard Clark
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 05:50:23 -0400, Buck wrote:

It really got me to thinking about what the
radio would be like if i had left it plugged in. I unplug my rigs
much more often now.

Hi Buck,

Did it get you to thinking about how you replaced the path to ground
at the time you were unpluggin your rigs?

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

It got me to thinking of putting the end of the wire in a jar, which
is what I did. The alternative was to toss it out the window, but
that wasn't viable at the time.

--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

In article ,
Buck wrote:

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 09:21:41 -0700, Richard Clark
wrote:

On Thu, 27 Jul 2006 05:50:23 -0400, Buck wrote:

It really got me to thinking about what the
radio would be like if i had left it plugged in. I unplug my rigs
much more often now.

Hi Buck,

Did it get you to thinking about how you replaced the path to ground
at the time you were unpluggin your rigs?

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC

It got me to thinking of putting the end of the wire in a jar, which
is what I did. The alternative was to toss it out the window, but
that wasn't viable at the time.

i don't think tossing goax into a jar would protect you , dunno

but it's good to have a arrestor the good ones have almost not
appreciable loss that you would notice on a scanner

it will protect it from misc static sudden bursts which u might not
unplug fast enough if your luckey

it might reduce staticand improve reception

couldn't hurt i use some arrestors but when i am not using the ant, i
unplug outside the house and ground it it's a choir but i am nutty

the other alternative is radio insurrance pretty cheep for just a
scnnner naturally it would 'protect' humans


best luck

It got me to thinking of putting the end of the wire in a jar, which
is what I did. The alternative was to toss it out the window, but
that wasn't viable at the time.



Think about that above statement. Do you really think that a lighting
strike capable of traveling hundreds or thousands of feet in the air is
going to be detered by a couple millimeters of glass, or a couple inches to
the opening?



Ed K7AAT

i don't think tossing goax into a jar would protect you , dunno

but it's good to have a arrestor the good ones have almost not
appreciable loss that you would notice on a scanner

it will protect it from misc static sudden bursts which u might not
unplug fast enough if your luckey

it might reduce staticand improve reception

couldn't hurt i use some arrestors but when i am not using the ant, i
unplug outside the house and ground it it's a choir but i am nutty

the other alternative is radio insurrance pretty cheep for just a
scnnner naturally it would 'protect' humans


best luck


After that incident, I read many articles concerning grounding ham
equipment, the home, the towers and the antennas. They seem to be
different systems, but one thing I learned and most agree on is that
the lightning arrester on the coax needs to be one of the chemical
versions and not a vanilla gap type arrester.

Buck
n4pgw

--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

On 29 Jul 2006 22:39:07 GMT, Ed
wrote:


It got me to thinking of putting the end of the wire in a jar, which
is what I did. The alternative was to toss it out the window, but
that wasn't viable at the time.



Think about that above statement. Do you really think that a lighting
strike capable of traveling hundreds or thousands of feet in the air is
going to be detered by a couple millimeters of glass, or a couple inches to
the opening?



Ed K7AAT


Actually, it wasn't lightning around at that time. the sparks were
static burst or something generated from lightning afar off. I was
concerned about the possibility of fire when I threw the connector
into the jar.

Buck

--
73 for now
Buck
N4PGW

Buck wrote:
Actually, it wasn't lightning around at that time. the sparks were
static burst or something generated from lightning afar off. I was
concerned about the possibility of fire when I threw the connector
into the jar.

That certainly could have been charged particle static
buildup. I experienced a similar thing in the Arizona
desert when the wind was blowing under clear sky, low
humidity conditions.
--
73, Cecil http://www.qsl.net/w5dxp