[kwlug-disc] OT:Cable Splitters/Rogers

[John Johnson]

Quoting self: "The bridge mentioned above could be a tree, a pole, a 
house, an antenna or a person holding an umbrella.
Or a truck."

Tragedy-Comedic-imagery aside: A person need not be holding an umbrella 
or golf club to form the "bridge" I mentioned.
To reduce the chances of being part of the "bridge" the recommended 
position for a person caught out in a storm is to crouch down.
Not lay flat.

Please recall that the charge can travel along the surface of the ground 
while it tries to find the other "lump" of charge.
And if a person is laying flat, the charge can travel across or through 
the body.
Same for a swimmer in a lake, river or pond.

Hence: The recommended position for a person caught out in a storm is to 
crouch down, holding one's knees and with two feet on the ground spaced 
as close as possible together.
Not a good idea for the swimmer. (Could not resist. Sorry.)

This reduces height and contact area with the ground.

FWIW: My work with lightning damaged telephone systems was in the 1970s 
and 1980s. I came to learn of the crouch position in recent years, say 
1990s and 2000s.

jsquared

On 2014-06-09 16:07, John Johnson wrote:
> I am also not an expert on lightning but did study the same after 
> repairing telephone systems damaged by the phenomena.
> Hence my repeated cautions on this list over the past few years.
>
> Follows is my hypothesis of what I think happened with the truck.
>
> Parts of the atmosphere, e.g. clouds, collected an electrical charge 
> over time.
> This charge is what I would call "lumpy", higher in potential (volts) 
> in one area as compared to another.
> And this charge moves as the low level atmosphere clouds and all move 
> in the wind.
>
> The charge in the atmosphere attracts a charge in the opposite 
> polarity in the ground, which includes trees, poles, houses, people 
> (with or without umbrellas or golf clubs), etc.
> The charge in the ground is also "lumpy" , higher in potential (volts) 
> in one area as compared to another.
>
> If the two charges, i.e. the one in the atmosphere and the one in the 
> ground, bridge such that there can be potential transfer, this 
> transfer takes place in a hurry.
>
> The bridge mentioned above could be a tree, a pole, a house, an 
> antenna or a person holding an umbrella.
> Or a truck.
>
> The truck simply drove over a "lump" of charge in the ground bridging 
> to a similar "lump" above.
>
> The static electricity, if any, picked up by the truck would be 
> insignificant as compared to that in the "lumpy" charge in the ground 
> and the matching "lump" of charge above.
>
> jsquared
>
> On 2014-06-09 15:46, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
>> Or rather, the truck is moving fast and is accumulating static 
>> electricity and that is what attracted the lightening.
>>
>>
>> (Khalid, who tries to be rational, but is no electricity expert).
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 3:38 PM, CrankyOldBugger 
>> <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com <mailto:crankyoldbugger at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     We can only assume that the people in the truck upset Thor or
>>     Zeus somehow...
>>
>>
>>     On 9 June 2014 15:34, John Johnson <jvj at golden.net
>>     <mailto:jvj at golden.net>> wrote:
>>
>>         On 2014-06-09 15:00, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
>>
>>             There are several trees that are higher than the antenna
>>             though and it is in the far side of the yard, so not very
>>             concerned as I would if it is on top of the house.
>>
>>
>>         Lightning strikes truck on highway.
>>         With nearby power poles and wires.
>>         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACMlM1zyiWs
>>
>>         Go figure.
>>
>>         Lightning is weird that way.
>>
>>         jsquared
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>> -- 
>> Khalid M. Baheyeldin
>> 2bits.com <http://2bits.com>, Inc.
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