Chief71
Member
If I have my external antenna (2ft tall) on my Durango durring a T-storm, do you think i'm running a great risk at getting hit by lightning? Would the car ground the current or would myself and the scanner get fried?
Thunderstorms + car antennas
- Thread starter Chief71
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Tornadodan
Member
Uh
I would say maybe, its not to good
I would say maybe, its not to good
N
N_Jay
Guest
No better chance than all the cars that have had antennas on them since about 1950!
IF (big IF) you get hit, your scanner and much of teh cars electrical system is likely to be toast.
The shell of the car 'usually' protects the occupants. (your ears will be ringing, so I have been told)
IF (big IF) you get hit, your scanner and much of teh cars electrical system is likely to be toast.
The shell of the car 'usually' protects the occupants. (your ears will be ringing, so I have been told)
n4yek
Member
I was sitting in traffic one day during a storm listening to my
2 meter ham radio when lightning hit the electric pole that
I just happen to be sitting by. It was less than three foot away
and I saw no effect on my radio what-so-ever. Amazing considering
the amount of current that flowed just three feet away from me.
Lightning wants the quickest and easiest way to ground and your
vehicle isn't it. Current will not flow through your tires, that is why
it is said if your in a wreck and power lines are on your car that
you do NOT get out. The instant your foot touches ground YOU
become the path to ground.
Just food for thought....
Danny
N4YEK
2 meter ham radio when lightning hit the electric pole that
I just happen to be sitting by. It was less than three foot away
and I saw no effect on my radio what-so-ever. Amazing considering
the amount of current that flowed just three feet away from me.
Lightning wants the quickest and easiest way to ground and your
vehicle isn't it. Current will not flow through your tires, that is why
it is said if your in a wreck and power lines are on your car that
you do NOT get out. The instant your foot touches ground YOU
become the path to ground.
Just food for thought....
Danny
N4YEK
Chief_71 said:
Perhaps if the truck is the highest object in the immediate vicinity, for
example, in a wide open rural area like a field away from trees.. etc.
K5MAR
Member
mciupa said:
Somewhere on one of the stormchaser groups is video of a chaser's vehicle being struck by lightning (off-camera) while the chaser is filming some storm clouds. As I recall, it melted the antenna, and zapped the vehicle computer.
Shocking! :lol:
Mark S.
unitcharlie
a Kentucky DB Admin...
n4yek said:
Mark Bell would be angry if i didn't respond.... his first words would be "LOOK UP AND LIVE!" One of my collateral duties at work is to teach ENG truck safety. Plz bear with me, the safety geek in me is yelling.
The chances of lightning frying your radio gear is minimal so long as your windows are rolled up and you don't have anything hanging out the window to draw the lightning into the pax compartment. Then your Faraday Cage becomes a capacitor of sorts.... but the opportunity to die in an overhead powerline accident is far greater.... A small but disturbing number of people in the broadcast industry die annually because their microwave relay trucks become entangled in powerlines....and they the ground.
Now a few observations.... First, on a day when you don't have a power line on your vehicle, look up at the insulators on power poles.... if your tires don't hold your vehicle at least as far away from the ground as the insulator holds the power line from the pole then there could be a real problem.... if even one of your tires has lost pressure then you are completely energized....
Second, even if all four tires are fully inflated and there is nothing else to ground the vehicle you need to stay inside unless there is a more pressing reason to leave... like fire... then, in order to avoid the inductance circles on the ground from your partially energized vehicle, you need to learn how to hop as far as possible with your feet and legs together and nothing but your shoes touching the ground...
Chief71
Member
Thanks for all your input!
KR4BD
Member
:!: :!: My brother's car was hit by lightning last year just South of Indianapolis (Greenwood, IN) in a residential area. It hit the radio antenna and windshield area. He was about a mile from his home and was able to limp home after the hit, but the car ran very rough and at a VERY slow speed. He said he could not restart it afterwards. The lightning fried the entire electrical system, on-board computer, etc. The car was not economically repairable due to all the fried (melted!) wiring, etc. His insurance company "totalled" the vehicle which was only a couple of years old. :!: :!:
djeplett
Member
WOW!!! :shock:
I'm assuming he was O.K.?
I'm assuming he was O.K.?
KR4BD
Member
He was absolutely OK. Scared the :!: :!: :!: :!: out of him, however. He was NOT touching anything metal at the time, which may be why he was not hurt. I know many people say that you are safe from being hit by lightning while in a car, but this is not always true. The amount of voltage and current in a lightning strike can jump great distances. I have also heard of cases where extremely close strikes can still cause some electrical damage to a car, such as fried radios, etc.
Like somebody said, a car is like a Faraday shield, and lightning will not enter, but I bet it would make you piss your pants.
There is a fire lookout in Colo called Devils head that has been struck by lightning many times while occupied, without injury to the occupant. It is also consructed as a Faraday cage, or shield.
I remember one time a 13.2 KV power line fell across a guys truck and it burned all four tires off and the guy stayed in the cab and was not injured--
There is a fire lookout in Colo called Devils head that has been struck by lightning many times while occupied, without injury to the occupant. It is also consructed as a Faraday cage, or shield.
I remember one time a 13.2 KV power line fell across a guys truck and it burned all four tires off and the guy stayed in the cab and was not injured--
unitcharlie
a Kentucky DB Admin...
thanx for that example... if you don't need to leave stay put til the crispy critters kill the power line....
N
N_Jay
Guest
Thayne said:
The shell o fthe car will act somewhat like a Faraday sheild.
However it is not perfect. There are a lot of reasons it will protect you and a lot why it won't.
The same can be said about the electronic equipment in your car. It may survive, it may be damaged, it may be destroyed. To predict which and to what degree in advance is assuming WAY too much.
N
nmfire10
Guest
unitcharlie said:
And after you land, do NOT take normal steps. You need to take very small shuffle steps away from it. The ides is to not have one foot in one inductive circle and one foot in another. You can become a human fuse. Both this and what Unit Charlie said about leaping away and landing with your feet together are what we were taught by Northeast Utilities directly.
N
N_Jay
Guest
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