[AMRadio] Re: Shorting stick

[KC4QLP at aol.com]

>Anyone who has been trained in safely handling firearms knows that  
>all guns are to always be considered as always loaded.  The only  
>exception to that rule is when you open the weapon and see that it  
>really isn't loaded.  The same thing applies here.  Anything inside a  
>transmitter should always be considered as energized until you short  
>it directly to ground.  Only then is it safe to touch.  There is no  
>such thing as being too cautious with this stuff.

>Alan
>WA2DZL




Amen to that brother!  BTW..to comment about shorting sticks with resistors 
on them. I've never seen a commerical rig...old or new have anything of the 
sort. Resistors can and will change value as they age, plus if you have a charge 
on a cap...or some other malifunction that for one reason or another, you 
still have an energized HV power supply, the current that would/could flow through 
the resistor would without a doubt burn it up. Then you would have -no- 
protection and probably a good chance of still having an energized circuit of 
sorts.

I'd much rather see everyone keep the original design of a shorting 
stick.....no resistor......just a direct path to ground.

 I'd much rather see the blue/white flash and hear the big bang and know that 
everything is de-energized rather than have someone read my obit.

  Bob Carter - KC4QLP
-------------------------------------------------------------
Mid-Atlantic-Engineering-Services of Utica NY / Elizabeth City NC

http://www.geocities.com/midatlanticengineeringservice
WKVU-FM Utica/Rome NY,WKVJ-FM Dannemora/Plattsburgh NY,WRCS-AM Ahoskie NC
-------------------------------------------------------------