Re: Few, Fewer, Fewest

Oleg Lego wrote:

On Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:25:44 -0400, Roland Hutchinson posted:

Bob Cunningham wrote:

I can't think about this topic without remembering with
horror an experience with my first ham rig.  The power
supply had a transformer with very substantial terminals
that were the high voltage connection, about 700 volts AC.
The terminals and the transformer were substantial enough
that a convenient way to pick up the power supply was to
grab one of the high-voltage terminals in each hand, being
careful, of course, to shut the power off first.

Of course.

The jolt threw me halfway across the room flat on my back.

I was lucky it was 700 volts.  A lower voltage would
probably have let me hang on while it killed me.

Yikes! That should be enough to cure any ham.

Aaargh!

My first major shock happened when I was about 12. I wanted to see
what would happen to an electrolytic capacitor if I supplied it with
AC. I wired up one of those old metal-cased electrolytics to a 600VAC
transformer (both salvaged from a defunct radio), and plugged the
transformer in.

I waited a bit, but nothing happened. Forgetting (or perhaps not
realizing) that the metal case formed one terminal in common with the
negative solder tab, I grabbed the case with my left hand, and being
careful to hold it by the insulation, pulled off the wire wrapped
around the positive solder tab. Unfortunately, when the wrap gave way,
the bare part of the wire sprung back and landed in the palm of my
right hand.

When I came to, I was flat on my back, holding the capacitor in my
left hand. The transformer was on the floor, the weight of it having
yanked the plug out of the wall socket. I was a LOT more careful after
that, though I did not manage to avoid all high voltage shocks over
the course of my various careers.

My own learning experience, while precocious, was nowhere near as
sophisticated. I managed to stick a key into an electrical outlet when I
was, oh, maybe three or four years old. I got a nasty shock, but no harm
done.

It was thereupon explained to me that Mother Nature probably wouldn't let me
get away with doing that twice.

--
Roland Hutchinson Will play viola da gamba for food.

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