From: "Mike O'Connor" <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
Message-ID: <4BAC401E.20409@austarnet.com.au>
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:03:26 +1000
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To: OS/2 Wireless Users Mailing List <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
Subject: Re: [OS2Wireless] Wireless router (mainly OFF TOPIC)
References: <list-2294027@2rosenthals.com>
In-Reply-To: <list-2294027@2rosenthals.com>
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Hi t'other Mike,

Thank you very much for your input - it should probably be re-broadcast 
over a selection of OS/2-eCS lists/groups for promulgation!
That was a very clear and superb explanation. I worked all my adult life 
- 1958 - 1995 (when I had to resign for medical reasons) in Aviation 
Meteorology, tracking (on WX Radar 1.5 degree beamwidth elevated 1.5 
degrees above horizontal, at 3 rpm, also scanning vertically to 
determine the freezing level and cloud bases and tops (up to 84,000 ft 
in Darwin, in the Northern Territory, the world's record highest) in a 
blacked out windowless room with heavy black rubber curtains to exclude 
any incident light) and forecasting Thunderstorms and associated 
Terminal Area Extreme Turbulence was a major component of my duties with 
the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, as Shift Supervisor and Briefing 
Officer for both International airlines and Domestic too at major 
airports like Sydney/ Brisbane/ Darwin/ Cairns/ Townsville and on 
Military bases here in Australia.

Naturally I'm always monitoring Severe Weather events here from 
www.bom.gov.au (equivalent of the NOOA/NWS (is it still called that 
these days?), and whenever storms get within 20 km of here, and heading 
this way (only have 4 Doppler Radars in the whole of Australia, to date 
-- first was between the NSW/Queensland border and Brisbane, a couple of 
years ago, followed by adelaide in S.Australia, then Melbourne, and 
recently Sydney), I shut all systems down, and pull all plugs (except 
the refrigerator) and the landline phone cables - my sole home landline 
phone is a transportable 5.8GHz Panasonic - base-station is next to my 
bed, plus the ADSL2 line from the Central Splitter to the Gateway 
"modem". Then I wait until all activity has passed before hooking up the 
Gateway "modem" and powering up the T43 - to check the Radar/ Satellite 
photos to confirm before re-plugging and switching everything else!

The weather I experienced here in April 2006 was not forecast BTW!

Once again many thanks for the knowledgeable input. I learned a lot from 
that!

Mike Luther wrote:
> ** Reply to note from "OS/2 Wireless Users Mailing List"   
> <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com> Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:48:16 -0400 
>  
> Serious professional advice from a NARTE certified Master Telecommunications   
> Engineer since 1985 here about lightning.   
>  
>   
>> Wow! That's all I can think to say about such a massive lightening strike and 
>> the negative results. No, that's not true. I think you just convinced me to 
>> do two things: 
>>    
>> 1] Buy a UPS regardless of the physical size of the unit and find room for it 
>> no matter what! 2] Get myself some renter's insurance, regardless of the 
>> monthly or yearly premium! 
>>     
>  
> Smart decision.  But the folks here need to know some real radio facts about   
> lightning to make a proper decision on protection.  As a commercial broadcast   
> engineer since even the late 1950's and even Chief Engineer for the Texas Aggie   
> WTAW radio station back then paying my way through A&M, I offer some serious   
> information.   
>  
> Lightning is *NOT* electricity as most people think about that.  It is, for   
> fact, a very intense radio wave issue!  As such, it does *NOT* travel through a   
> wire or metal object!  It actually travels on the SURFACE of it.  Further, since   
> it is a radio wave and it oscillates, it also focuses on some frequency during   
> the actual strike, which CHANGES as the strike takes place in those thousandths    
> of a second!  Frequency means that, as to the stroke going through the   
> atmosphere or down the surface of a tree, wire; whatever, it has a wavelength   
> just like a broadcast station transmitter output or TV station.  Radio waves are   
> curious, in that for each QUARTER wavelength we see a MAXIMUM current for   
> MINIMUM voltage, then a reversal to a MAXIMUM voltage for a MINIMUM current a   
> quarter wave down the path from there.     
>  
> The air gap voltage required in the atmosphere for an arc to proceed through it   
> is perhaps 35,000 or so volts per inch.  Think about that.  How many million   
> volts per bolt?  Yes, the air is burned into a conduction path, the SURFACE of   
> which is conducting the lightning.  But wait!  Remember, a million volts at one   
> end of the quarter wave point and maybe a thousand amperes current?  Then a   
> quarter wave later a million amperes and then a thousand volts?  Interesting.  
>  
> The absolute 'intent' of a lightning bolt which travels between a cloud and   
> ground, because it MUST travel on the SURFACE of the conductor, is to actually   
> spread itself out across the SURFACE of the earth at that end of the path.  Well   
> fine, if as part of the strike conduction path, the surface travel down to the   
> earth terminates in such a way that on the SURFACE of whatever conductor, that   
> surface is actually touching and bonded to the surface of the earth.  But in the   
> case of the horrid hit described earlier here, if the metal surface of the   
> conductor carries it down into a hollow shaft below the surface of the earth,   
> and thence down the surface of the metal wires to other houses, apartments;   
> whatever, the only path toward the surface of the earth will be as described.    
> Through MASSIVE damage sites inside the building(s)!   
>  
> As well, because the strike is a huge magnetic pulse issue, a strike also   
> radiates that same Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP) out away from it.  Thus even   
> though the strike hits your neighbor's house, the pulse lights up EVERY wire in   
> it's path, at the speed of light, as the energy radiates away from the hit as   
> well.  Interesting.   
>  
> OK, how do we REALLY protect against lightning?   Answers.  
>  
> That NEMA ground rod at your power meter entrance to the building is there   
> generically for this reason as well as bonding the power line ground wire to   
> ground from your electric service.  But the real problem is that this NEMA   
> ground rod is driven INTO the ground!  Which does *NOT* do much good for the   
> radio wave lighting strike which is traveling trying to reach the SURFACE of the   
> earth.  If you really want to use this to protect your home, apartment or   
> whatever, the proper way to do this is to fan out a little wire radial group in   
> a circle around that NEMA ground rod, about six or eight feet long for each   
> wire.  Like the spokes on a wagon wheel.  Which go down only a small inch or so   
> at GROUND level from the NEMA rod.  What that does is to properly shift the   
> lightning bolt to the SURFACE of the ground as it roars down the ground wire to   
> that NEMA ground rod.  You do the same thing for the bottoms of TV antenna   
> poles, metal flag poles, the wire that carries lighting arrester spikes at the   
> top of the buidling to the ground. 
>  
> Further, you NEVER pass antenna wires directly into the attic or through the   
> window into the place  - unless - you have a proper lightning arrestor plasma   
> device which lets the shock arc through it from the SURFACE of the wire that   
> goes into the building to a good heavy flat sheet copper strip with a wide   
> surface to the ground.  And then out along the surface like the NEMA rod deal.    
> A round wire has little surface, right?  The proper lightning ground is the flat   
> surface of a copper strip, even though it is rather thin.  
>  
> Plus the proper place to put the lightning protection on the power, phone lines,   
> TV cable system and so on is at this common place near your power meter and so   
> on.  That to divert the bolt AWAY from the bulding.  You really want it all to   
> be protected together from a common decent protection set of devices.  Even to a   
> for real master protection set of devices on your meter, and NOT these deals you   
> buy to 'protect' your stuff in the house.  Yes, the do OK for noise.  But not   
> for lightning.  About the only thing they are good for is the insurance you may   
> get with them too.  Scowl.  
>  
> Now we go inside.  But before we do please note.  OK, so the average quarter   
> wavelength of the huge bolt is at 1 Megahertz, 1000 Khz on your AM radio dial.    
> But the bolt also can and does have an average quarter wavelength of only say   
> EIGHT feet as well with frequencies way up in the TV channel area at points in   
> it's split second of lifespan.  Ouch.  Which are still traveling over the   
> OUTSIDE of all the wires going through your building if you let it in too.   
>  
> AHA!  Now you know why in many strikes that penetrate a building, you'll see   
> your TV blown to bits on one part of the same power circuit that doesn't fry   
> your guitar amp eight feet away.  Hmmmmmm.   More important, there is a HUGE   
> issue here very few people know and understand about so-called surge protector   
> plug boxes you get to 'protect' your computer; guitar amp -- and so on.  These   
> protector devices, at least virtually all of them, work by letting a pulse of   
> over a couple hundred volts arc across a path to the GROUND neutral, the big   
> round rod on a three prong power plug.  Well so what?  Remember that because   
> lightning is a radio wave, just because it shunts the surge to that green wire   
> ground connection, where is that, in terms of quarter wave spacing, for the hot   
> spots on the lighting bolt as that happens?   
>  
> Surprise!  Ground, in this case, may not even be back toward the electric panel   
> and the NEMA rod.  Instead, it may be actually going down the SURFACE of that   
> same green wire INTO your computer, your guitar amplifier, your TV set!  Now   
> watch what else ABSOLUTELY happens to virtually all modern electronic gear.    
> Years ago we gave up metal transformer power supplies for such things.  All of   
> the conversion from 120 volts or 240 volt of AC (Alternating Current) down the   
> power lines to the DC (Direct Current) for the equipment, is done through what   
> is now switching power supplies.  But that is a DISASTER for a voltage spike   
> which comes IN on the green ground wire, seeking out the phone line ground,   
> perhaps, or .. worse .. your PRINTER!  Because your laser printer draws a high   
> power amount you can't pay for UPS coverage.  So you plug it in to the power   
> plug and then connect it with a metal ground wire to your computer which is on   
> your UPS.  Get the idea?   
>  
> What happens is that the lightning strike, even only a hundred volts maybe by   
> the time it gets here, raises the GROUND foils of your computer above the GROUND   
> level for a SURFACE radio wave for the difference of 120 volts AC to 12 volts DC   
> and...  Surprise!  If it is a 300 volt pulse, your ground foils are 30 volts   
> above ground and POOF your whole computer, guitar amp, TV set, stereo is blown   
> to bits.  It is not at all unusual for even a strike on your neighbor's place to   
> surge your power lines up to 600 volts or so.  Not at all. 
>  
> Bottom line.  The ONLY way to use a UPS to protect anything is to make SURE that   
> your UPS uses a METAL TRANSFORMER to isolate the house from whatever you are   
> trying to protect.  Why?   Because the lightning bolt cannot pass through the   
> metal pig iron between the primary coil and the secondary coil wires in it.    
> Thus that really DOES ISOLATE your equipment from the pulse.  But ONLY if you   
> protect ALL of the devices on the output side.  And do *NOT* run your printer   
> elsewhere and then connect it to your computer.  Or use any kind of phone line   
> or cable modem connection metal wire to another ground possible source to the   
> protected device.  Without thinking carefully how it is absolutely protected to   
> keep the pulse out of the building and shunted to ground properly.   
>  
> There does happen to be a form of surge protector that does not have this   
> horrible pulse clamp effect.  But it is quite rare.  It uses an inductor choke   
> and capacitor to clamp the pulse to the HOUSE side of the power line service and   
> like the transformer style device, blocks the pulse from crawling on the surface   
> of the wire into your equipment.  It sure isn't sold in Walmart, Lowes, HEB or   
> any place like that folks.  
>  
> Final notes here.  If you are using huge antenna farm stuff like I do as a   
> serious ham radio operator with towers all over the place at my site, you also   
> may be required to put a substantial metal wire circular ring around the house   
> which bonds the various sink ground spoke sites at several places going into the   
> building!  And, in fact, my site gets a direct hit on the average of at least   
> twice a year big time.  My towers are all grounded and radial spanned at the   
> bottoms for protection purposes.  As well the feed lines are all brought in   
> either at underground level, properly protected by plasma arc protectors there   
> at tower connections.  Or in the proper ground plate side panel entry points   
> that do properly connect to the ground.  I have had this careful protection   
> since about 1980 at the site.  And direct hit after direct hit, I have NEVER   
> since ever had a computer failure or radio or any failure, other than a couple   
> modem failures ever since properly protecting it.     
>  
> But I do use all proper pig iron UPS stuff there.  Which in my case has been for   
> years the APC full professional sine wave output Smart UPS units.  As well all   
> the computer equipment on the site is also actually still pig iron linear power   
> supply relay rack stuff.  I use *NO* switching power supply stuff at all in any   
> rural heavy tower radio site locations, like we also never do at broadcast   
> stations.  Which get hit a heck of a lot more with their 250-500 foot high   
> towers that are a lot higher than mine, chuckle.  And at WTAW's 1150KHz AM   
> frequency is a 256 foot quarter wave high tower.  Which we took about 60 hits a   
> year while I was Chief Engineer there paying my way through A&M.  And never once   
> lost anything from an antenna strike.  
>  
> Sorry for all the words.  I am just trying to help here..  
>  
>   
>> Do you have any quick methods of how-to size up what power-level of UPS to 
>> buy? I know I can go to google.com and find the info but if you have some 
>> quick method off the top of your head it will save me the time of reading and 
>> figuring out for myself what I need. Not to mention the fact that also I 
>> trust your judgment more so than what I might find on the 'net. 
>>     
>  
> You have to totalize the wattage level use of the electronic equipment you wish   
> to protect.  Then you figure out how long the batteries of the UPS will crank   
> out that much wattage to keep things going.  Either so you can shut it down if   
> you are hit, or it will go on until the real chances are that decent power will   
> be restored.  At my ham radio site, when I am not there, the APC UPS with the   
> battery power level available to it, will keep the simple computer, phone line   
> access and low level VHF data service going for about 24 hours.  I've only once   
> since the 1980's ever not been able to get out there in more than 24 hours to   
> shut things down and police the things if I'm not there on site when bad things   
> happen to the power at this very rural location.  
>  
> Not the same Mike.   
>     
>   
>> Thanks Mike, seriously! You've knocked some digital sense into this old 
>> brain-pan of mine, and for that I am grateful. I'd be sick if I lost even 
>> half of my gear! 
>>    
>> Greg 
>>     
>  
> But with the best of my professional heart at work here to help not only you but   
> the otheres who might benefit from this.  
>
>
>
> --> Sleep well; OS2's still awake! ;)
>
> Mike Luther
> Mike.Luther@ziplog.com
> Mike.Luther@f3001.n117.z1.fidonet.org
>   
Regards,
Mike O'Connor

-- 
Failed the exam for
--------------------
MCSE - Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert
--------------------
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