Provide a dc path to ground at all times. A 20K to 50K ohm resistor across your antenna feed line hot side to ground will constantly dissipate accumulating static while not interfering with the operation of the antenna (50K is 1,000 times larger than the antenna impedance if the antenna is somewhat resonant and fed with 50 ohm coax, and few antennas - even a random wire - present more than 4K or 5k impedance if not.)
Your antenna does not "attract" static but makes it more obvious. A grounded structure in the air (tower, lightning rod, antenna, etc.) *reduces* the static charge in the immediate area by constantly feeding electrons from the earth into the atmosphere to neutralize the positive charge that accumulates there. That's of little value if the charge escalates faster than the ability of the system to neutralize it and you get a lightning bolt, but it points out that grounded structures actually *decrease* the likelihood of lightning, but may *increase* the chance of lightning striking them if a bolt occurs. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Scott McDowell Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 7:42 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] static charges Hello I live at 3600 feet altitude on the Texas high plains where it is extremely dry, and we have a lot of wind. And lots of static eletricity. I have static charges jump as much as 3/4 of an inch to my hands daily, and usually several times a day. How can I protect my transceivers from this. I keep them grounded and the antennas disconnected when not being used. but sometimes I believe this attracks the static charges. I also keep them disconnected when not being used How can I protect the rigs from static??? ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
