losaproxy.blogg.se

Source: Management of Radioactive Disused Lightning Rods (PDF) What if we wanted to prevent lightning strikes altogether? The radioactive tip of an old lightning rod. All this is designed to protect the expensive equipment in the shack, not the antenna itself, which you would probably need to replace after a direct lightning strike. Many of us have secondary systems in place as well - automatic antenna disconnects, for example - just in case some excess energy “leaks through” the arrester. They are directly grounded, and in the event lightning strikes the antenna, are designed to provide a quick path to the earth for all that extra charge. These are small boxes that act as a passthrough for the antenna feedline. The type of lightning protection used on a tower or antenna depends on the application - many Ham Radio operators use lightning arresters to protect their equipment. Radio towers make excellent lightning rods, and it’s hard to guarantee that the clouds will choose to discharge their pent-up electrons on a nearby pole instead of the tower itself. Sometimes, the thing you’re trying to protect is, well, a tall metal pole. Passive Lightning Protection (and the Radioactive Option) While this works great for most structures, like your house for example, there are certain situations where a tall metal pole just won’t cut it.

Just as Ben Franklin first did in the 1700s, they are still installed on buildings today to protect from lightning and do a fine job of it. They are still, essentially, a metal rods that attract lightning strikes and shunt the energy safely into the earth. Since then, there haven’t exactly been leaps and bounds in the field of lightning rod design.

He had speculated that the conductor would draw the charge out of thunderclouds, and he was correct. He created the first lightning rod, an iron pole with a brass tip. Humans have been trying to protect things from lightning since the mid-1700s, when Ben Franklin conducted his fabled kite experiment. Unless, that is, you work in aerospace, radio, or a surprisingly long list of other industries that have to deal with its devastating effects. Every now and then we hear some miraculous news story about the man who just survived his fourth lightning strike, but aside from that lightning probably doesn’t play that large a role in your day-to-day life.

Most of us don’t spend that much time thinking about lightning.