With the colder temperatures, and despite a reasonably effective humidifier on my HVAC system, the humidity is dropping enough at home to allow some static build-up. For some reason, this seems to occur particularly when I am working at my computer. The main light in my office is incorporated in a ceiling fan and is turned on and off by the usual metal chain hanging from the fan - the whole assembly being grounded. If I stand up and reach to turn off the light without remembering to ground myself more gently first, a small static spark jumps to the chain and my USB Weatherlink disconnects from the VB.Net program that monitors it (and stays disconnected) This is absolutely repeatable, and is a particular nuisance because the only reliable way of getting everything going again is to reboot my computer (which is the main server for my home network and takes about 15 minutes to be usable after a reboot).
The light is ultimately on the same circuit as my computer, but the computer (which doesn't otherwise glitch under these circumstances) and the VP2 console are both plugged in to a functioning APC UPS, which should also be protecting both of them from mains-transmitted interference. I wonder, therefore, if the long vertical USB cable, and/or the console's power cable, is acting as an antenna and receiving the static-generated interference pulse over the air.
Has anyone encountered anything like this, and/or can anyone suggest how I might approach fixing the problem?