Comment by sanex
12 hours ago
Bridges probably shouldn't be subject to the same electromagnetic radiation that gets focused by the telescope though so ideally not a problem there.
12 hours ago
Bridges probably shouldn't be subject to the same electromagnetic radiation that gets focused by the telescope though so ideally not a problem there.
Where the cables were there’s nothing focused, just wires, it was outside of the dish.
They were across the dish. From the report: “The Arecibo Telescope cables were suspended across the beam of “the most powerful radio transmitter on Earth””
The role of the cables was for supporting the equipment. The cables that failed, and are examined in the report, were designed to hold the equipment up, while it moved around. These cables weren't involved in carrying signals, data, or power.
There is no denying that energy was induced because of their placement at the focal length of the dish, but that was incidental to their purpose. The bundles of wires were spirally bound around a core. There were certainly ground connections and lightning arrestors involved. The EM effects and properties are discussed on pp 40–47 of the report.