Static electricity on antennas

Yes.

I have experienced static noise build up, sometimes accompanied with getting a small shock from the case of the radio, a few times. That is the cue to abandon the activation, but dismantling everything very carefully, using dry non-conducting material to insulate my hands against connectors etc.

As others have said, it’s better to use the weather forecast to avoid being out in such conditions.

I once spectacularly failed in this regard. To me, it looked like a passing electrical storm was going to give me a wide berth and I pressed ahead with an August overnight SOTA camp. I now know not to do that again, and thank goodness I am still here to be able to learn from my mistake.

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