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Reviews For: Polyphaser

Category: Lightning & Surge Protection/Supression

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Review Summary For : Polyphaser
Reviews: 17MSRP: 63.00
Description:
Complete lightning protection system.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.polyphaser.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00174.1
K7NG Rating: 2013-10-30
Second to none Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I use Polyphasers on my job and at my home ham station. I protect DC wiring, telephone lines, rotator cables, CATV cables, and of course antenna lead-ins with appropriate Polyphaser products.

I discovered that Polyphaser once had their own test facility - the only producer of lightning and surge protection products that actually generated lightning bolts to validate the design and performance of their products. (Of course the units you buy wouldn't have had a destructive test performed on them but they did test samples of their production runs that way). I saw their test system once when Polyphaser was located in Minden, NV.

As far as I'm concerned, Polyphaser brand products are the only choice.

I know that there may have been some bad experiences had by some with these products, but I say that I've never had any, and I caution people that they must be extremely careful in choosing which product to use - there are lots, and the results achieved depend strongly on matching product to ALL aspects of the application.

I would still be a little hesitant to operate my ham station during a thunderstorm - better safe than sorry - but I will say that I have NEVER had any radio equipment damaged (in 24 years) by lightning-induced events when installed properly, with suitable Polyphasers in use, and with grounding done correctly.
KC9NCS Rating: 2011-07-17
Saved My Rigs, Will Buy Again Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Last Monday, July 11th we had a particularly nasty storm come through with 85mph winds, hail and multiple lightning hits in the area. Many were very close by, at least one was a direct hit here.

My tower's the tallest thing in the area, up on a hill and well grounded with multiple 10 foot ground rods, bonded together. Of course, I have Polyphaser IS-50UX-C0's in line for every antenna.

I've taken multiple lightning strikes (or darn close by!) with each one. This past Monday July 11th, the Polyphaser on my 2M antenna (highest antenna on the tower) finally gave out after getting hit. I discovered that this morning when I fired up the 2M rig and heard nothing on the local repeater.

The device did exactly what it was supposed to do protecting my equipment and kept the lightning out of the house.

On my HF antenna's, I've run up to 1,500 watts through my Mosley or Alpha-Delta wires with PolyPhasers in-line and have yet to have a single one fail due to excessive power. If you're blowing 'em when running power, you're doing something wrong.

I ordered several new Polyphaser's this morning (one to replace the bad one, and a few spares) and am happy that they did their job AS INTENDED protecting my equipment AND keeping lightning from coming down the coax into the house.

Can't say enough good things about this product!

KB5DPE Rating: 2007-04-14
The Standard of Comparison Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Their broad customer base of Commercial, Industrial and Military users speaks for itself. If a ham has not had satisfactory results, HE HAS DONE SOMETHING WRONG. Plain and simple. This stuff WORKS! My equipment stays connected and in use 24/7. Never a problem.
AA4HA Rating: 2007-04-14
Misapplication can cause problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have specified, installed and maintained about 2000 Polyphaser proectors, from HF applications up to 6 GHz, power protection devices, data and telephony protectors. The only time I have ever had a problem was when the protector was misapplied to the system (wrong power rating, wrong power rating, high reflected power, not-common grounding point, no weatherproofing). This is the only protector I will put into a naval installation, electric utility SCADA system or public safety system (911 police/fire). I have even used the NEMP rated protectors on a government facility that had it's communications center in a giant Faraday cage in a bunker. I do suggest that if you use it for microwave applications or where you have DC power on the coax (1270 MHz systems) that you carefully select the voltage and polarity rating of the protector and if you need a seperate injection tap.
KG6AOH Rating: 2006-12-21
Saved my equipment! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Have used Polyphasers for many years at commercial sites. Have them installed on everything for my home tower as well.

My tower was hit during a really violent storm last year, which also hit several trees around my home, and split a few. No damage to my equipment at all. Same Polyphasers still inline, and still protecting my stuff!

Have a 2m/440 whip on tippy top of tower, and a 160 foot longwire on HF, all fed with 1/2 inch Heliax. Polyphaser at cable entry on dual bander, Polyphaser at feedpoint on wire.

Install Polyphasers properly and stay on the air during storms!!!
KC9CS Rating: 2006-12-09
Rely on it! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I live in west central Florida..the lightning capital of the USA. Several years ago lightning struck real close, I'm not certain it hit my 65' tower in the back yard because all my gear was disconnected and survived. But, in my radio room 5 feet of ceramic tile were blasted off the concrete floor of the house. The phone box on the house side was blown off the house (we have underground utilities.) The phone connection at the street was blown apart and the lid blown 95 feet from the underground connection. I lost a television, 3 cable boxes, and the upper left part of my circuit box in the garage was toasted. Polyphaser was greatly interested in the damage, and hugely helpful in assisting me in making sure I didn't suffer the damage again. They even hooked me up with a local Florida Power 3 day symposia on lightning protection for facility managers! I installed the best protection Polyphaser has, and have not had any problems (thank God) since. And I've put a webpage up that's seen lots of visits on the proper way to ground a system. ALL points, tower, gear, antennas, and your home panel ground MUST be tied together so that ALL points rise together in a voltage spike and fall together with a voltage drop. ANY differential between any two points on the system and you get current and damage. All points on your station must be individually tied to a common ground...no daisy chaining them or you get ground loops. And there's NO substitute for using the proper protective equipment. In my case...it's Polyphaser. Go to: http://home1.gte.net/res0958z/ to see my installation. Not inexpensive, but the cost of rebuilding from a direct hit wouldn't be either. In west central Florida I have to err on the side of overprotection.

73, de KC9CS
Bill
K9KJM Rating: 2006-02-13
Great for VHF Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Well, The "smoke" finally got out of one of mine.
About 1 KW on 75 meters into a VSWR of less than perfect "smoked" my HF Polyphaser.............
So those stories about not taking power are TRUE!
I stand by my earlier "5" post for Polyphaser company for VHF/UHF lightning arrestors. But for HF use on high power....... a zero is a better rating..... For HF lightning protection at high power, See I.C.E. (Industrial Communications Engineers)

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Earlier 5-star review posted by K9KJM on 2002-03-27

Polyphaser is one of the best lightning protection devices on the market. The little booklet "Grounds to keep you communicating" which is now out of print should be must reading for anyone interested in lightning safety. One of the best small booklets I have ever seen. To be effective, The Polyphaser like any other protection device needs to be connected to a good ground system. Something usually lacking in most ham situations. BURY MORE COPPER!
WB0UGO Rating: 2005-12-13
DON'T Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I put 700 watts into mine the first time and it fried. I have 5 Alphe Delta switches with no problems. Enough said.
KF8RX Rating: 2005-12-13
Great stuff Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I built up a Polyphaser ground system and ran QRO! I even ran RTTY at 1500 watts. I once blew the traps in my Mosley TA-53 but never had any problem with the Polyphaser gear.

I took the station down when I moved to Florida. The 220 volt line protector for my Alpha seemed to have loose parts inside. I opened it up and saw I had been hit by lighting.

I have no idea when I took the strike. I never knew it happened!

Thank you Polyphaser.

Eric
KB7UIX Rating: 2005-11-03
Recommended Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Polyphasers are standard equipment in many commercial and government radio systems. After several years experience with Polyphaser products in various applications, I can say they do their job and are well built.