Hey folks
I’m having an issue with a computer here at the house (a result of the lightning storm we had last week). I’ve been waiting for parts, and they should be here finally today or tomorrow. What this means for the site is that if you’ve sent me a check for membership, or to set up advertising, getting that done will be delayed until I can get online with that computer.
Sorry for the delay.
Sorry to hear of your computer woes.
I know from first hand experience how much equipment a lightning strike can fry! I hope you are back up and running soon.
I think I’m back in business, now to catch up on things.
This one was an odd one. A couple Thursdays ago we had a fierce, but short lived (half an hour-ish) lightning storm move through here. We had 7 lightning strikes in 90 seconds, all within 500 feet of the house, including two near simultaneously within about 200 feet. (www.lightningmaps.org is a fun site) Anyway, the next day my desktop computer in the basement couldnt connect to the internet. It claimed the network cable wasnt plugged in to the router. Swapped ports on the router, no dice. Figured the on-board networking was dead. Which is really strange, because there’s three other pieces of equipment between that computer and the outside world, and they’re all fine.
Anyway, 30 bucks and 10 days later, I have a new network card.
An EMP probably fried the network card. (https://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)
An energetic EMP can temporarily upset or permanently damage electronic equipment by generating high voltage and high current surges; semiconductor components are particularly at risk. The effects of damage can range from imperceptible to the eye, to devices literally blowing apart.
Similar scenario many years ago. I was running a web site on my cable service using a Linux machine as my router. Took a lightning strike on a Sweet Gum tree on the southwest corner of the house. Took out the AC contacter on the northeast end of the house (near 100 feet away), the DVD and VCR (about half way between) but not the TV, the garage door opener (closest to the strike), and the inside network card going to the hub. The network card to the cable modem and the cable modem were fine. Never could figure that one out.
