At K2USA we had a BC-610 in the main studio (1964). It stood a little over desk high and was truly the Mother of all Boatanchors. To tune it, you had to lift a small hatch in the top surface and rotate a link coupling. But, of course, you had to switch off the B+ first. If you forgot to do that, there was an interlock on the small hatch to cut the B+.
We had two military operators (not hams) who handled the MARS traffic for us so we could ham. Somebody had discovered that the interlock was not working earlier in the day. I taped down the hatch, taped a note over that so the ops would have to remove the note to open the hatch, told the two ops to be absolutely sure they shut off the B+ before tuning the TX and left for home. An hour later, I get a call that one of the ops had been electrocuted and taken to sick call. Well he hadn't been electrocuted exactly. He opened the hatch, rested his elbow on the top, reached in with a screwdriver to tweak the link and hit the high voltage with the TX keyed. It blew a 1/4 inch hole out his elbow where it contacted the top surface. They patched him up, gave him a tetanus shot and gave him the night off. I asked the doc why he got a tetanus shot and he said RF burns seem to cook below the surface somewhat and the tetanus shot helps internal damage heal faster for some reason. I was stupid to allow them to use the TX, and I was stupid not to realize how stupid the op was. We get really careless with all the solid-state gear. Often even dropping a screw in an operating circuit, or carelessly dragging a test lead through a hot ciruit fails to do anything. Many of these circuits just bounce right back once the short is removed (not always). The second day I had my Drake 2-NT, I moved a wire out of the way with my finger and got a little 350v DC wake-up for my carelessness. It's something that is done routinely in my Elecraft gear. Maybe this interesting series will remind us that there are dangers inherent in this hobby. Eric KE6US www.ke6us.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ron D'Eau Claire Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2006 8:40 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Stupid, stupid, stupid - OT Jim W4BQP wrote: Anyone remember drawing an arc off the plate cap of a transmitter tube with a wooden lead pencil? --------------------------------- Many times! Only 1,000 vdc or so on there and enough RF to create a burn that hurt like @[EMAIL PROTECTED] for a month if it found bare skin! _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
