Re: [AMRadio] Shocking Stories
Good Day All, Well, I've read a LOT of tales of tragic near-misses here that truly would fall under the category of ...accident. But how about a near-fatal, near-miss occurance that surely deserves to be preceded by the header of STOPID...?! It was 1976, the budding, relatively newbie Ham --- i.e. yours truly --- decided that the 20-foot electrical extension cord in the basement with the intermittent receptacle head would better serve the world of VE3CUI as fodder for hook-up wire...and so, to this end, a large METAL-handled carving knife was procured from mother's cutlery drawer, a tight loop was made at the receptacle end of the extension cord, and I diligently proceeded to cut away through the wire... BWAMMM I was near-blinded by a flash of white blue arc / spark, and the knife was literally flung away from my hands, hitting the floor --- hard. Yup --- the extension cord WAS STILL PLUGGED INTO THE AC WALL RECEPTACLE 20' AWAY AT THE OTHER END...! I suffered no ill-effects, other than receiving the (then) fright of my life...but the knife did NOT fare as well: it bore witness to my stupidity by way of what looked just exactly like a spotweld nugget, about the size of your baby pink nail, right where it had contacted the 120 VAC. They say that The Almighty looks after drunkards and idiots in this life: I surely had NOT been drinking at the time, so I humbly defer to my lifetime membership within the latter category...! ~73!~ Eddy VE3CUI - VE3XZ __ 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.
Re: [AMRadio] Shocking Stories
My shocking story dates back to November, 1960, the night of the Kennedy-Nixon election. I had stayed up to the wee hours listening to election returns on the radio. In the meantime I decided to work on my transmitter, a homebrew pair of 807's, which I was attempting to modulate with a hi-fi amplifier working into a backwards connected single plate to 8 ohms output transformer, which served as the modulation transformer. I had about 1000 volts on the plates of the 807's. I was holding the microphone in one hand and reached to make an adjustment on the transmitter with the other, when I got zapped from arm to arm from the 1000-volt supply between the microphone and transmitter cabinet. I had not taken the precaution to ground the amplifier, and the backwards-connected output transformer shorted from primary to secondary, but the insulation in the power transformer in the amplifier held up intact, leaving the entire chassis of the amplifier 1000 volts above ground. I could not turn loose of the microphone or release my grip from the transmitter case. The only way I managed to disengage myself from the high voltage was when I stood up, I fell over backwards and ripped the microphone cord out of the connector. I remember falling to the floor and hitting the back of my head on a glass 6L6 that was lying in the floor and breaking it. My arms contracted towards my chest spastically and uncontrollably. I had severe burns on both hands, and my chest and arms were extremely sore the next day. If I hadn't managed to break loose more or less by accident, someone would have found me hanging on the transmitter the next morning, since everyone else in the house had gone to bed hours earlier and I was in the upstairs ham shack well out of earshot. Don k4kyv ___ This message was typed using the DVORAK keyboard layout. http://www.mwbrooks.com/dvorak/ http://gigliwood.com/abcd/ __ 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.
[AMRadio] Shocking Stories (was: amazed...)
I lived in a coastal canyon for many years. Right after I got my ticket,
I amassed the typical 'impossible dream of electronic childhood' - a nice
Collins S-Line set-up.
Before I had any antenna smarts, I stretched an enormous long-wire down
to one end of my property, very nearly 500 feet of copper. And, I end-fed
it, with coax. (Well, I used RG8 - what could go wrong???) No
counterpoise, no grounds (three-story house perched on a 50-degree slope).
This mess was matched to the transmitter with a horrible home-brew tuner
I got at a ham-fest - a huge butterfly variable cap and a 4-inch tapped
coil and switch on an open aluminum chassis.
One afternoon, I tuned 'er up, made a few contacts, chewed a rag or two
- then it was Dinner Time. After relaxing a bit, I returned to the shack
to see what Night would bring one of the things Night brought was a
15-degree drop in outside temperature. And the 500 feet of copper reacted
accordingly.
I had a footswitch attached to the PTT line, and, after checking that
the transmitter was still in tune, listened for a bit and called CQ - got
a station right back.
When it was again my turn, I hit the footswitch and leaned into the
microphone, whereupon a nice fat little 1-inch RF arc leapt from the mic
to the side of my lip. Seems a voltage node had 'backed' back into the
shack with the change in length/tuning...
Okay, Station X, FB on the... zzzZZAAp! *{}#*$*!!!$*(*...@~
What I screamed into the open mike cannot be reproduced here, and
certainly has no place on the ham bands... HIHI!!
For months after that I cringed every time I opened the mailbox,
expecting a nice little note from the FCC inviting me to explain myself...
but, I'm still here, as is my ticket.
Someday I'll tell the story of the 300-watt guitar amp and the metal
screwdriver...it went to 11, alright...
Cheers
John KB6SCO
DM09fg
__
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Re: [AMRadio] Shocking Stories (was: amazed...)
Someday I'll tell the story of the 300-watt guitar amp and the metal
screwdriver...it went to 11, alright...
Listen to the substain, man...
Steve WD8DAS
sbjohns...@aol.com
http://www.wd8das.net/
-
Radio is your best entertainment value.
-
-Original Message-
From: John Lawson jp...@panix.com
To: Discussion of AM Radio in the Amateur Service
amradio@mailman.qth.net
Sent: Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:53 pm
Subject: [AMRadio] Shocking Stories (was: amazed...)
I lived in a coastal canyon for many years. Right after I got my
ticket,
I amassed the typical 'impossible dream of electronic childhood' - a
nice
Collins S-Line set-up.
Before I had any antenna smarts, I stretched an enormous long-wire
down
to one end of my property, very nearly 500 feet of copper. And, I
end-fed
it, with coax. (Well, I used RG8 - what could go wrong???) No
counterpoise, no grounds (three-story house perched on a 50-degree
slope).
This mess was matched to the transmitter with a horrible home-brew
tuner
I got at a ham-fest - a huge butterfly variable cap and a 4-inch tapped
coil and switch on an open aluminum chassis.
One afternoon, I tuned 'er up, made a few contacts, chewed a rag or
two
- then it was Dinner Time. After relaxing a bit, I returned to the
shack
to see what Night would bring one of the things Night brought was
a
15-degree drop in outside temperature. And the 500 feet of copper
reacted
accordingly.
I had a footswitch attached to the PTT line, and, after checking
that
the transmitter was still in tune, listened for a bit and called CQ -
got
a station right back.
When it was again my turn, I hit the footswitch and leaned into the
microphone, whereupon a nice fat little 1-inch RF arc leapt from the
mic
to the side of my lip. Seems a voltage node had 'backed' back into the
shack with the change in length/tuning...
Okay, Station X, FB on the... zzzZZAAp! *{}#*$*!!!$*(*...@~
What I screamed into the open mike cannot be reproduced here, and
certainly has no place on the ham bands... HIHI!!
For months after that I cringed every time I opened the mailbox,
expecting a nice little note from the FCC inviting me to explain
myself...
but, I'm still here, as is my ticket.
Someday I'll tell the story of the 300-watt guitar amp and the
metal
screwdriver...it went to 11, alright...
Cheers
John KB6SCO
DM09fg
__
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AMRadio mailing list
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http://www.mail-archive.com/amradio@mailman.qth.net/
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__
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