Quick Connectors, lightning strikes, and power strips

[mountainman]

Okay, this may be a dumb question but what is on the market for what I would term "quick connectors" that you could attach to your coaxial cable and then to your TV? Our area gets frequent lightning storms and I want a faster way to unattach the coaxial from my tv. I am tired of spending several minutes unscrewing the coaxial and then several minutes reattaching it when the storm passes.

I do have a decent power strip that has the coaxial input and output. Is it safe to just leave it all (electric cord and coaxial cable) running through the power strip and leave the power strip on all the time? (I realize nothing is 100% safe... other than unplugging everything.) What do you guys do with your valuable equipment?

[57U]

There are slip on RF-coax connectors - no screwing required. The only way to be 100% safe is to unplug everything and even a surge protector, etc doesn't preclude harm from a lightning strike, only from a (small) surge.

[mountainman]

So... as a general rule do folks leave their stuff unplugged or take the risk with a quality power strip/surge protector? I know that is a subjective question. I assume they leave them on for simple ease of use.

Maybe a good poll question?

[Splicer]

There are slip on RF-coax connectors - no screwing required. The only way to be 100% safe is to unplug everything and even a surge protector, etc doesn't preclude harm from a lightning strike, only from a (small) surge.
Last summer I lost an Onkyo amp and an Infinity sub to lightning/power surge :mecry: ...Both were plugged into a surge protector...But then so was my HDTV and it is fine...

[DVdude]

You will definitely want to have some form of safety precaution in place, for those times when you are not home and a lighting surge may hit.

If your coax goes to a HDTV Antenna, the best thing to do is to have your antenna properly grounded.

Remember Power Strips and Surge Protectors, although they may look the same, are 2 different things. Power strips typically have a simple on/off rocker switch. Even when switched off, a large surge can jump across the switch and still reach your equipment.

Surge protectors are much better and provide some protection. Look for one with a very high Joule rating. Make sure the Continuous Duty Electrical rating is sufficient to handle the Amps and Watts of all the equipment you have plugged into it. Also look for a high Maximum Spike Current rating (measured in Amperage). A higher rating will better absorb spikes from lighting (50,000 Amps + rating is good). Look for a Clamping Voltage response time of less than 1 Nanosecond and a maximum surge clamping voltage of 330V. This is good for sensitive electronic devices because their circuitry can be damaged beginning at the 380V range. Surge protectors divert surges and spikes away from your sensitive equipment by using metal oxide varistors (MOVs).

If you area gets a lot of power brown-outs, a battery-backup (UPS) with Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) will also be a good investment for your delicate electronics. A good Power Conditioner can also provide AVR and help eliminate EMI/RFI line noise.

[kevinw]

So... as a general rule do folks leave their stuff unplugged or take the risk with a quality power strip/surge protector? I know that is a subjective question. I assume they leave them on for simple ease of use.

Maybe a good poll question?
I leave my stuff plugged in all the time.

[Architectural_Drafter]

Wow, I've been away quite a while. It's a bit late for the thunderstorm season, but I thought I would toss this out...

I make my own cables for home, and I use BNC connectors at the wall plates. Really solid connection when on. Then, slight push in, turn, and remove. Some of us older computer geeks remember using them for thin net network cable. If it'll work for that, it should be fine for a regular coax connection. I use them for my OTA antenna, and for my satellite dish.

It's really fun running around the house half asleep and confused at 3am due to a surprise thunderstorm. This makes it a lot easier and quicker, and doesn't leave you in contact with the connector for a long period of time.

I use this one for coax:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-494

For wall plates, I take a blank plate and drill a hole through it, then use a female-female adapter (it's a bit pricey, but you won't use many):
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-252

So the only connection I'm fabricating is the male onto the cable. Fairly simple, even for me.

[brector]

I never unplug anything. But I also have everything hooked into a UPS