A good ground rod to the frame would help a lot. Generally, you're safe in your car during a lightning hit, since you're surrounded by a Faraday cage. Tires have about 50 K ohms to ground, so a good solid ground rod connected to the frame would help protect you. The antenna will still be a target and your radio will still probably suffer damage in a direct hit.
Dick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Yonge" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com> Sent: 30 December, 2005 17:22 Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] polyphaser Help On Dec 30, 2005, at 7:42 PM, Dick wrote: > Paul, I wouldn't worry unless you plan to operate your van on a > mountain top in one of those impressive upstate NY lightning storms. We do have some great ones. It's possible I might seek out a hilltop location to stay out of the way of the incident and to ensure the best coverage to other handhelds in the area. (I have a bed in the back of the van so I can just crawl in and pull the covers over my head in case a storm's in the area. Maybe I should pack a camcorder along to record the fireworks.) > All antennas are DC grounded to the fuselage. I wondered if I would be doing more harm than good with a separate ground to the frame of the van. I guess the idea is to avoid any differences in the voltage potential between any of the system components. Paul Yahoo! Groups Links Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/