LEARNING CURVE

Lightning. It’s a natural phenomenon that “sparks” every ham radio operator’s interest. It’s not possible to be in our hobby very long before hearing “horror stories” involving ham friends’ unfortunate encounters with Mother Nature’s electric personality. March is upon us and this month heralds springtime, a time for cold air masses to collide with warmer, humid air masses. These “collisions” result in stormy weather and that means lightning discharges. Lightning is aweinspiring and fascinating to watch from afar. Not so much when the T-storm is overhead and thunderclaps shake your QTH (location) while you hope you can dodge another bullet.

Personal Interest

For the first 21 years of my ham radio career, I was fortunate. I dodged the lightning bullet every time. I would unplug my coax and even put the PL 259 plug (coax connector) into a glass mason jar whenever I heard thunder, or I knew I would be away from home for an extended time. Orwell is right, “Ignorance is bliss.”

But ignorance is a false sense of security. Over the years, as I procured “good ham radio deals,” I erected a tower and populated it with aluminum antennas. The tower and antennas tend to act like Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rod, thereby increasing the odds of getting struck. Of course, I took the standard precautions in regards to grounding my station. I drove an 8-foot copper clad grounding rod into the ground next to my tower and connected a ground strap to the rod. I was protected! Or so I thought. After all, my 40-foot tower had been up for well over 12 years and numerous thunderstorms later, not a single hit.

My Turn…

I clearly remember the year: July 2000. It was just