Surge Suppressors

[phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org]

> I bought an APC "SurgeArrest Performance" surge protector. It's model
> PF11VT3:
> http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=176
>
> It has phone/fax/modem protection built in. The phone hookup works
> fine, but my DSL modem (an Alcatel Speed Touch Home) will not sync when
> it's plugged in to the surge protector.
>
> I've been reading that DSL modems may not work well with surge
> protectors. If this is the case, is there another way to protect the
> modem?

The phone line *has* a surge protector, usually near the building entry
point, which is meant to protect phones (and their accompanying humanoid
companions) from destruction during a lightning strike. (My recollection
is that there is a spark gap and two thyristors.) So, is surge protection
really required on a phone line?

> This unit also has protection for cable TV. I found that when I use
> it, the cable signal degrades. I was told a signal booster would fix
> the problem. Is this true?

I watched the cable installer hooking up my *new* Rogers internet
connection. There is an earth ground at the box on the outside of the
house which is intended to divert a lightning strike to ground. So far as
I know, there are no thyristors. So this would hopefully prevent a
catastrophic surge - but might not protect delicate electronic equipment.

On the other hand, in the city, the chances of having a lightning strike
in your section of the cable are rather remote and the cable amplifiers
would limit the spread of a lightning strike.

(Not so in the countryside. I lived in Schomberg as a kid and we had close
lightning strikes all the time, including one that vapourized a tree in
the corner of the garden. It's quite unnerving to be out in a large field
on a tractor as a violent thunderstorm bears down, knowing that *you* are
the highest point of land in the area.)

Peter

-- 
Peter Hiscocks
Syscomp Electronic Design Limited, Toronto
http://www.syscompdesign.com
USB Oscilloscope and Waveform Generator
647-839-0325

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