QRP Club

QRP Club => Mike's Tavern => Topic started by: vu2nan on February 15, 2022, 05:24:23 UTC

Title: Lightning jolt!
Post by: vu2nan on February 15, 2022, 05:24:23 UTC
It was a typical summer afternoon in the year 1977.

I was working CW on 40m - my homebrew EL84 rig feeding a straight dipole antenna with telephone drop wire as feeder.

Meanwhile the sky became overcast and there was a continuous rumble as I continued to work.

All of a sudden I received a jolt through my Junker key followed by the crash of a thunderbolt.

Without a thought I yanked the feeder off its sockets and threw it on the floor. My heart missed a beat when I saw the arc that followed between the banana plugs and the cement concrete floor.

The following morning's local newspaper headline was 'Lightning stuns football players'. It was a direct hit at the nearby football field. Fortunately only a couple of the players had fainted and there were no casualties.

73,

Nandu.