It has suddenly turned very dark and cloudy after a very hot and sunny day. It quite took me by surprise.  Looking at the lightning map, the storms look far away at the moment. 

Lightning is an increased risk in the summer months. Although a direct strike is unlikely, close lighting can still do a lot of damage to radio gear. I take no chances disconnecting antennas and mains connectors. Up to now this policy has kept my gear safe from harm.

A useful guide is the realtime lighting map. If lightning is possible locally I disconnect things before the risk is here.

The map is an example showing the lightning last evening at about 2010z.

See https://www.lightningmaps.org/#m=oss;t=3;s=0;o=0;b=;ts=0;y=51.7212;x=0.2069;z=8;d=2;dl=2;dc=0;

One example of a PolyPhaser through panel protector makes one wonder if I have a counterfeit or has QC taken a turn for the worse.

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