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From: (no name) (no email)
Date: Tue Aug 03 2004 - 10:23:25 EDT
<<Talking about lightning strikes, Larry wrote something a few weeks ago about
the importance of protecting electronic devices (back-up GPS, laptop, etc)
in a faraday cage. What is a simple way to build one ? Can any metal
suitcase do the job? Is it important to do so if cruising offshore?>>
Ben,
A Faraday cage is simply a metal or conductive enclosure into which
electronics are placed. Any metal box would be fine.
The theory is simple. Any electric charge hitting the cage immediately
spreads over the entire surface. Since all portions of the surface are at the same
potential, no current can flow and the interior is protected. By this
reasoning, the best place to be in a lightning storm is in an automobile (not
convertible), a steel framed building, or a metal boat.
It is almost impossible to protect permanently installed electronic equipment
from the consequences of a nearby (or direct) lightning strike but emergency
backup equipment can be protected in a metal box. I use a cheap cash box, a
good deal smaller than a shoe box, to store a backup hand held GPS and a VHF
transceiver.
Larry Z
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