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Title: Downed 'lateral' power line in my yard Post by: John K5PRO on July 31, 2009, 02:38:56 PM Wednesday night, after the build up of a storm here, wind was hitting pretty hard. Heard some noises outdoors, and my lights were dimming a bit, i was on the 'puter. Then I heard an explosion, lights all went off, then reenergized and a second explosion. Lights all off. Looked around neighborhood, and all were dark. So i called my electric Cooperative's outage number, and they called me back shortly, asking for details. When they arrived in the area, they attempted to reconnect their circuit breaker upline, and it tripped. I suggested they just drive down my lane and look, as i heard the pops. Sure 'nuf, they found the 7200 volt lateral (as they called it) lying in my field, trees had dropped enough limbs to break it. Lots of charred branches on the ground. Lucky it doesn't cross the end guys of the post that supports my trap dipole. It fell clear of that. When they had reenergized it momentarily, it was popping about on top of my neighbors fence. The journeymen were in their bucket truck from midnight until 3, cutting back not only my elm but also the neighbors, as they were also lying on the line in places. I loaned them my chainsaw as they only had a hand saw up there. This made the linemen very happy. They had it back on shortly, good work. They were cussing about the lack of tree cutting done by their company in advance of the storm season.
We're getting daily storms now, our monsoons, 1 inch at the house yesterday. At work, lightning hit the low building next to mine, and took out some fire protection and network circuits. It was a loud pop. Title: Re: Downed 'lateral' power line in my yard Post by: The Slab Bacon on August 03, 2009, 09:14:44 AM John,
a 7200V feeder lying on the ground is a pretty awsome sight if you get to see it still arcing. We had one come down one street behind us a few years ago. First it was massive popping and sputtering, then it settled into a steady arc that actually charred the earth to ashes and melted rock. A pretty unsettling sight if you live or have antennas under one! Something I wont forget for quite some time to come. Title: Re: Downed 'lateral' power line in my yard Post by: N4LTA on August 03, 2009, 09:44:08 AM A 7200 volt or higher can make some neat looking "cotton candy" if it falls on sand. It will glassify it and if it is jumping around it will string it out like cotton.
Pat N4LTA Title: Re: Downed 'lateral' power line in my yard Post by: WA1GFZ on August 03, 2009, 08:59:51 PM Yes wet sand makes interesting glass AMfone - Dedicated to Amplitude Modulation on the Amateur Radio Bands
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