Zap! Last week some free electrons rushed from the someplace out there to a pole and into my house via the POTS line (plain old telephone system). Killed my DSL modem and Gig switch in the process. Luckily I also have cable (and 3G) otherwise I would be – and my wife more so – going through crazy Internet withdrawls. Crazy, I tell you.
Pow! Lovely but sickening blue spark eminates from an unterminated CAT‑5 drop under the entertainment center…the idiot box and time-sucking time-shift machine along with tuner cards are fine. Footnote: all of our computers are named after Mary Tyler Moore show or spin-offs, I don’t know why. Except for the HDPVR, and it’s name is Mr. Jones. I don’t know why.
Fizzle! Mr. Jones is fine. Ted (You know, News Caster Ted…tell me you catch reruns on the Nick @ Night cable channel), my primary radio/surfing machine in the other room but otherwise on the same network (we have two…I don’t know why) was fine except for any device that connects via a USB-to-Serial cable. Long story short, replaced the USB2Serial Cable and the tuner will not listen anymore on the Serial port. Just got the thing back from LDG repair a month ago. Feh.
Poof! I am non-plussed by the interface of the AT-200PC anyways…I had some thought about using it for PC-Ale a while ago but it turned out to be a notion for now. I am looking at the Array Solutions SGC clones anyways, so I may just go that direction. And now the point of this blog…
Spark! Lightning is dangerous, and I have lots invested in electronics. I am investing in the I.C.E lightning protection devices for all signal entry points in my house. A small investment overall for great protection.