According to Wiki, the holiday did not start till 1986. But an interesting story non the less.
I was first bit in a electronics shop class. I was checking out a power supply I had built for a small 6L6 transmitter. Got bit by a lytic when it was off. (oops did I forget a bleeder resister) I cleverly reached in and got it again, thinking my first go around had discharged the cap. My classmates found it amusing. 73, jack On Jan 19, 2009, at 4:07 PM, robertchar...@att.net wrote: > You are a jewel for sharing your story with us. Fortunately for me, > I have never experienced anything other then a shock across the CW > Key contacts....and that was bad enough for me back in the late > 60's-70's. > -------------- Original message from sbjohns...@aol.com: > -------------- > > > > > > > > It is indeed a special day today. I'm working on the restoration > of my > > old WRL Galaxy 300 SSB transceiver - my first SSB rig I bought as > a new > > General lo those many years ago. I had to pull use all my savings, > > plus cash gifts from my parents and grandmother to scrape enough > money > > to buy it mail-order from Associated Radio in Kansas City. I think > it > > cost $229. > > > > This is the rig that put me in the hospital on Martin Luther King > Day > > 1977 or 1978. I was 13-14 years old, fooling around one evening in > my > > room, trying to determine why there was a tube shield on the > Galaxy's > > 6BZ6 RF amp tube. It is located right behind the finals in the PA > > compartment. > > > > At one point I got very careless. With the transceiver turned on > > (bad), in fact transmitting a full-power carrier (very bad), I > lifted > > the lid and reached back in with my right hand to remove the 6BZ6's > > shield. Trouble is, to get to it I reached over the two 6HF5 > finals and > > their plate caps with about 900 volts DC, plus a couple hundred > watts > > of RF. My wrist touched the plate caps at the same time my fingers > > reached the tube shield, and the shocking and the burning commenced. > > My hand drew up in a fist, making it seemingly impossible to pull it > > back out. With the pain of the electric shock and RF burns I > couldn't > > get my hand out! Fortunately I was only using one hand for this > > madness, and I ultimately pushed myself away with my other hand on > the > > wooden desk. This also meant that the current had only flowed > through > > my hand and arm, not across my chest (very good). > > > > I had some pretty serious and painful burns on my hand and forearm. > > Clutching my wounded limb, I sat on my bed considering my options. I > > had a VERY BIG CONCERN that if I told my parents what had happened > > they'd stop my ham hobby dead. I was also very embarrassed to have > > hurt myself in such a dumb way. But I was also hurting pretty bad, > and > > worried about the side-effects of a strong shock, so I concluded > to be > > up-front about it. Not sure now how I would have hidden the injuries > > anyway. now that I think about it thirty years later. > > > > They handled it very well, and took me to the hospital emergency > room. > > The doctor did not understand the situation very well and was > checking > > my feet for burns, worried about my heart, etc - and he demanded > that I > > be kept overnight. I was admitted and put into a bed in a room with > > eight patients. > > > > All night long, every few minutes one or another of these poor souls > > needed a nurse for something and would start calling out, ringing > > bells, moaning and crying. The nurse would finally enter, > switching on > > the gigantic bank of fluorescent lights that lit the whole room like > > the surface of the sun. Click... zzzzzz.. , snap, snap, snap as the > > lights fired individually and finally hummmmmm they were on and I > was > > blinded by the light. No sleep for me, and I spent part of the the > > next day in the hospital wasting a school holiday - Martin Luther > King > > Day. > > > > My parents never said a word in judgment of my foolishness or > against > > ham radio because of this accident. And I was able to "milk" my > > injury to get me out of gym class for several months (very good). > > > > "Before" photos of the Galaxy 300 at > > > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/34505...@n02/sets/72157612756003726/ > > > > Steve WD8DAS > > > > sbjohns...@aol.com > > http://www.wd8das.net/ > > ----------------------------------------------------- > > Radio is your best entertainment value. > > ----------------------------------------------------- > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net > > AMRadio mailing list > > Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/amradio@mailman.qth.net/ > > List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html > > List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html > > Post: mailto:AMRadio@mailman.qth.net > > To unsubscribe, send an email to amradio-requ...@mailman.qth.net > with > > the word unsubscribe in the message body. > ______________________________________________________________ > Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net > AMRadio mailing list > Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/amradio@mailman.qth.net/ > List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html > List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html > Post: mailto:AMRadio@mailman.qth.net > To unsubscribe, send an email to amradio-requ...@mailman.qth.net with > the word unsubscribe in the message body. ______________________________________________________________ Our Main Website: http://www.amfone.net AMRadio mailing list Searchable Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/amradio@mailman.qth.net/ List Rules (must read!): http://w5ami.net/amradiofaq.html List Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/amradio Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html Post: mailto:AMRadio@mailman.qth.net To unsubscribe, send an email to amradio-requ...@mailman.qth.net with the word unsubscribe in the message body.
