# Lightning Strike



## pan (Mar 18, 2004)

A few weeks ago lightning struck close to the house. The modems on my 942 and 501 were killed. Although both receiver still worked Dish thankfully replaced them. I had other damage to other electronics some of which was on surge protector (APC) of assumed good quality.

My question to the board what are the best ways to protect equipment including phone line from lightning?


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## n8dagr8 (Aug 14, 2004)

If i know it is a bad storm, I will unplug anything that I am not using. That is about the best way to assure no damage.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

That's what I do as well, and especially after I lose power, but before it's restored.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

You could use UPS with phone and coax protection.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

I live in the #2 lightning county in the country.

My stuff - computers, A/V, everything more than a clock-radio - has at least two layers of surge protection, either surge plus UPS or cascaded surge strips.

My critical stuff, like the 921, is behind two surge strips, THEN a UPS.

Everything around the house is grounded solid.

I've taken hits directly on my transformer pole without as much as a burp.


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## Mike Johnson (Jan 16, 2005)

In my experience, Panamax makes the best surge supressors, for both power and telephone. We use them extensively at our transmitter sites to protect our broadcast equipment, and have had several protectors burn up but we've never lost any equipment. Panamax is also the protector that Dish Network sells.

In addition to the other good ideas suggested in this thread, check your telephone demarc for proper grounding. Make sure any surge strips you have are actually connected to a grounded outlet. (Test your outlets!)


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

Folks, NOTHING--repeat, *NOTHING*--can protect your stuff from a direct lightning strike. The best surge protectors in the world are designed to protect against power fluctuations caused by your local power company's system or similar causes. If lightning should strike your property or one close enough to your electrical system, there is nothing Man makes that can protect your equipment.

I think people "misunderestimate" (wink to GWB) the awesome power of lightning.


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## pjm877 (Apr 27, 2003)

Nothing... come on.. Lightning is taking a path.. a path of least resistance... SO you provide this: rods, grounding, give it a path to the ground that is a better path than your house. 

Now a full filtering UPS will protect your equ. might get fired in the process... could catch fire, but will protect... but they are not cheap. I got luckily and got two real cheap.. the MSRP for each unit was $4500 new... see not cheap... to replace the batteries are around $200 and are the size of your ave car bat... 

Y'all have a nice day/evening

IMHO.....


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## mgs24 (Dec 7, 2002)

If your equipment was on an APC unit, look at there protection offer. Most of their equipment offers a $ ? of protection.


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## Bichon (Jun 5, 2003)

pjm877 said:


> Now a full filtering UPS will protect your equ. might get fired in the process... could catch fire, but will protect... but they are not cheap. I got luckily and got two real cheap.. the MSRP for each unit was $4500 new... see not cheap... to replace the batteries are around $200 and are the size of your ave car bat...
> 
> Y'all have a nice day/evening
> 
> IMHO.....


Even if we accept your assertion that your expensive UPS will stop a direct lightning strike (sorry, but I don't), your equipment is still subject to damage from electricity coming in on the satellite, antenna or phone lines. Protection for them, available on some surge protectors and UPSs are provided by MOVs. MOVs are often damaged the first time they protect your equipment, leaving it vunerable to subsequent strikes. And they are way too small to protect against a direct hit.


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## treiher (Oct 24, 2002)

> Orignally posted by*pmj877*:
> Nothing... come on.. Lightning is taking a path.. a path of least resistance... SO you provide this: rods, grounding, give it a path to the ground that is a better path than your house.


For what it's worth . . . we took a direct hit a few years ago, and everything got wiped out, surge protectors or not. What was weird, even things that were not plugged into anything at all got fried. My kids had several battery operated toys which turned themselves on right after the hit.

I think surge protectors are a great help for those indirect strikes which send surges through the power lines and phone lines, but I also think the EM field which is generated by a close strike can wreak havoc on things whether they are protected or not.

I'm just glad we were all inside when it happened!


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## gordonz (Apr 21, 2005)

Can I install a satellite cable surge protector before a Dish Pro Plus separator (on the combined line)? The line also has the OTA signal. I just ordered a Panamax MAX 4300 which has only one satellite input. I hope I didn't make a mistake.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

gordonz said:


> Can I install a satellite cable surge protector before a Dish Pro Plus separator (on the combined line)?


The separator (and/or diplexer) are not an issue. The coax surge protector must be rated to pass at least 2150MHz, however.


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## dfergie (Feb 28, 2003)

SimpleSimon said:


> I've taken hits directly on my transformer pole without as much as a burp.


 More than 20 years ago I was dead asleep, when lightning struck my fiberglass BUD less than 20' from my bedroom window (which was open) I woke up in a fetal postion and remember the light even though my eyes were closed... it still worked ( Sat tec receiver 120 degree LNA with downconverter) reason I know it hit was scorch marks on back side of dish...


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## pjm877 (Apr 27, 2003)

treiher said:


> I think surge protectors are a great help for those indirect strikes which send surges through the power lines and phone lines, but I also think the EM field which is generated by a close strike can wreak havoc on things whether they are protected or not.
> 
> I'm just glad we were all inside when it happened!


yea I would loose a lot with a EM field pulse... don't have anything shielded for that  Also I did not know lighting could create a EM pulse.. the stuff you lean here...

And true.. I do not have the "extra lead ins" protected... but if I get a direct strike on the dish ant... I would hope that only the attached equ was the only thing cooked. my bet is the house goes too..

As I live less than 100 yards from a nice big water tower.. one would hope it would pose a better choice than my small wood frame house.

And, thanks guys.. this as been a great learning subject.. lots to keep in mind..


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## treiher (Oct 24, 2002)

Yikes, when I hear someone say EM Field Pulse, I think of what you get when a nuke goes off. I guess in the true sense, this would be a sort of pulse, since lightening only lasts momentarily, but ALL electrical current generates an EM field for as long as the current is present. Any wire that has electricity running through it will have an EM field around it, even the wires running through your 942 receiver (notice the lame attempt to keep this thread on topic!).


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

pjm877 said:


> yea I would loose a lot with a EM field pulse... don't have anything shielded for that  Also I did not know lighting could create a EM pulse.. the stuff you lean here...
> 
> And true.. I do not have the "extra lead ins" protected... but if I get a direct strike on the dish ant... I would hope that only the attached equ was the only thing cooked. my bet is the house goes too..
> 
> ...


I don't know the height of the water tower, but you may be inside its "cone of influence", meaning that the probability of you getting a DIRECT strike is low.. but not impossible.

Static electricity buildup caused by a fair amount of wind across your dish can raise your chances.. ground your dishes!


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

The antenna in these pictures was a Diamond 500, which is a 17.8 foot tall antenna. This particular antenna was installed on the Marietta, GA CMC building where Cobb County ARES (amateur radio emergency service) operates during emergencies. The antenna took a direct lighning strike and is now only 3 feet tall.. amazingly, the amateur radio connected to the other end of the antenna is still operating because it was properly grounded.


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## Neil Derryberry (Mar 23, 2002)

I pulled out some of my documentation on "cone of influence", also referred to as "cone of protection". If you have an object that is 100 ft tall, it protects a circular area directly underneath it whose radius is equal to its height.


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## Lord Vader (Sep 20, 2004)

pjm877 said:


> Nothing... come on.. Lightning is taking a path.. a path of least resistance... SO you provide this: rods, grounding, give it a path to the ground that is a better path than your house.


And this is relevant how? Nothing you have can survive a direct lightning strike.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Lord Vader said:


> And this is relevant how? Nothing you have can survive a direct lightning strike.


 The idea is to keep the direct strike on something outside from making it to the inside.

Then all you have to worry about is the surge on the various lines (power, coax, phone).


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