[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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