[Boatanchors] Meter window care
Mark Richards
mark.richards at massmicro.com
Sat May 13 13:14:21 EDT 2006
I should have enjoyed this advice back when I worked as a broadcast
field engineer. Among the cautions should be added: "Do not perform
this maintenance on energized equipment".
One of my most stupid near-"Darwin Award" moments was removing the
acrylic cover over the plate current ammeter of a working FM
transmitter. 5200 volts at 2.5 amps was present on the aluminum meter
mounting plate.
After cleaning the plastic cover, I decided that the best way to clean
the meter face, now readily accessible but (naturally) recessed, was
*with my thumb*.
The announcer on duty, in one of the studios that formed a semicircle
around the transmitter room, saw "a blue flash" and "a body flying
through the air" which "hit against the steel shelf of the AM
transmitter", a distance of some 8 feet.
It was me. I was thrown from one end of the room to the other, without
touching the ground.
The small hole in my thumb remains and my arm tingles occasionally in
reminder.
I am really a ghost.
/m
telegrapher at att.net wrote:
> I found this text in a manual and thought it might be of assistance to
> some members of the community.
>
>
> Meter Window Care
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