Ethernet to USB stop radar lightning strike?

[armand.seguin]

Hi,

OpenCPN recommends that when connecting a radar ethernet plug to a PC you use a 100 mb or gigabyte switch to minimize damage from a lightning strike.

My HP PC only has USB C ports and I'm using a Plugable network adapter to a USB A hub, then a converter to USB C.

Does the ether to USB adapter act as a buffer to lightning strike?

Thanks,

Armand

[Moo]

None of that will help in the case of a lightening strike. The switch may act as a sacrificial component if you are lucky... But in general I would say that is bad advice.

[armand.seguin]

Originally Posted by Moo

None of that will help in the case of a lightening strike. The switch may act as a sacrificial component if you are lucky... But in general I would say that is bad advice.

Moo,

Thanks.

I definitely noted the recommendation of a switch in the radar thread, and maybe the concept was that it would be sacrificed rather than the laptop. We don't get a lot of lightning in the San Francisco Bay area, but I don't want to be foolish. On the other hand, adding a switch creates several more places for faulty connections. I think I have enough of those.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Armand

[skkeith]

This is a joke right? Obviously not founded in physics or electronics. I would be interested to hear a real story with pictures of a switch somehow sacrificing itself in a lightning strike. This sounds super bogus. Anyone have real pictures of the aftermath of a real lightning strike?

[smac999]

would ‘t the radar be connected to a wireless router via lan port. And your computer via wifi. Why you you want cables stoping you from moving your computer.

[seandepagnier]

I think your radar is toast, but you could unplug the ethernet during storms and maybe this would save the electronics that they plug into.



It is said that if you ground the mast to the water, you are safer in a strike. Safer from being struck yourself and the boat is unlikely to get holed. It's also less likely to damage electronics especially in non-direct strikes


If you do ground your mast, you are more likely to receive a lightning strike.

[dfelsent]

Real world experience ( kind of) here.
I had a direct lightning hit on a tree 15 feet from my head where I was sleeping in my bedroom.
Woke me right up. Blew a pile of lumber forty plus feet from the tree. That lumber used to be the tree trunk. It missed the neighbors cars. Phew.
The cordless phone in the bedroom failed. The Ethernet switch downstairs failed. The Ethernet port on a pc motherboard on the opposite side of the house failed. We bought a new tv.
The failed motherboard was 40 feet or more from the strike, but the local switch (which survived, go figure) was tied to the downstairs switch by a cable that was about 60 feet long and run everywhere.
The Mac on the same switch survived.
So a switch might protect you. Or it might not. And that’s an indirect pulse from a strike.

[markcouz]

We get violent thunderstorms during summer in Johannesburg RSA, I use a network surge protector at any LAN connected device.

Just Google "network surge protector", my local producer is a company called Clearline who make pretty good kit, you may need to find a different source.

If you do something like this then make sure the surge protector ground lead has a solid connection to earth (sea water).