[time-nuts] Thoughts on lightning protection measures....

[Jim Lux]

On 4/12/12 6:22 AM, Michael Baker wrote:
> Time-nutters--
>
> Around here (N. Central Flori-DUH) it is not uncommon for
> near-by lightning strikes to damage underground cables and
> wiring. This is why buried wiring to things like driveway
> gate-openers are often placed in conduit rather than done
> with direct-burial wiring so that if lightning damages the
> wiring a new cable can be pulled through the conduit without
> having to re-dig the burial trench.
>
> Some years ago I had occasion to hold some long discussions
> with Martin Uman, one of the worlds most distinguished and
> eminent lightning researchers. He commented that even with
> the most extraordinary and costly efforts to install protection
> measures, that-- sooner or later-- there was a good chance that
> lightning would find a way to damage things.
>


Dr. Uman (and his colleague Dr. Rakov) probably know about lightning and 
effects than any other humans alive.   He's making an excellent point: 
at some point, the cost to replace the gear (or the cost of being "off 
the air") is smaller than the cost of the protection scheme.

Sometimes, you're better off having a sacrificial element, and a spare 
in the closet for speedy repair.


> His lightning research laboratory was located here in
> N.Central Florida because it is in the heart of the most
> dense strike area in N. America.