Joel, I took a lightning hit with my 847 in 1997. It was a big one, took out my sat tv, phone, TNC's , KCT card, computer's, etc. I had disconnected the antennas, power, everything except the modem(remember them?), that's where it got in, through the phone line, to the rs-232 port. I had an APRS station I left up and didn't disconnect during the event and it was fine! Go figure. To make a long story short I sent the 847 in that was only 3 weeks old to be looked at. Yaesu graciously fixed it under warranty. I was also Leary about keeping a lightning compromised radio after a lightning hit but I really didn't want to sell it to anyone so I kept it. Now 11 years later it is still working the birds! So you never know, good luck if you decide to go for the repair.
73 Jeff kb2m
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Joel Black Sent: Friday, March 12, 2010 19:33 PM To: AMSAT Subject: [amsat-bb] FT847 and Lightning
I appreciate everyone who has responded to my incessant questions here lately regarding radios, etc.. Tuesday morning, I took a hit to my VHF/UHF vertical antenna. It came into the ham shack and got the following equipment:
FT-847 FT-8100 RS-35A either the LVB Tracker, the G5400 controller or both (the G5400 controller is sluggish and the LVB tracker doesn't even turn on) cable modem router my PC's NIC my kids' PC's NIC and reset a couple of GFI outlets throughout the house.
I have been asking the questions of the radios because I have an FT857 that I was not in use at the time; however, it does not have full duplex capability. I really like the 857 and wouldn't mind having another, but the FT817 would be (from what I read) a great little receiver and it's a bit less expensive (I can add filters to it at that cost). As for the 847, I work in telecom and I know what kind of damage you fight from a lightning strike. I could send it to Yaesu, but when it comes back, I'll be fighting with it from now on. I just don't want to spend $500 for repairs only to have to send it back six months later for repairs again. I'll try to fix it, but that's going to be kind of slow - it'll also make for a good teacher.
As for the rotor controller, I was already going to completely take down the HEO antenna array and put up either homebrew eggbeaters or turnstiles. The 22 elements on 2m and 44 elements on 70cm are a tad overkill for what is up there and they need work. I really want to put a hexbeam up on that tower anyway. :)
I guess I'm looking for advice. Do I send the radio to Yaesu for repair or purchase a companion for the 857? Any other advice is also welcome.
Folks, unplug and disconnect everything. We had another lightning storm last night. At 3am, my wife woke me and said, "Honey, there's light..." I ran into the hamshack and just pulled everything out of the wall. It's funny looking back on it, but I still have a sick feeling in my stomach. _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb