[Elecraft] Re: Stupid, stupid, stupid - OT

[n3drk]

I am surprised the moderators have not stepped in to end these stupid, 
stupid and more stupid
posts. Geez, and I thought the SKN was bad. What happened to Elecraft 
questions?
73s
john


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim F." <j_fitton at yahoo.com>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 8:03 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Stupid, stupid, stupid - OT


>
>
> One dangerous (electrical) mistake was at 9 years old.
>
> Sent away to Johnson Smith & Co.  for plans and parts
> to make a
> radio the ad said, used no batteries or electrical
> power.
>
> It turned out to be a crystal set complete with
> cat-whisker, crystal, terminals, coil form, and wire.
> I followed the directions faithfully and bought an old
> junk store 50 cent headphone set (five weeks
> allowance..)
>
> I had no idea what an antenna or ground was, and
> neither did anyone else in my family. So I put on the
> headphones and inserted the bare antenna and ground
> leads into the house power socket. There was a flash
> and the house went dark.  My mom excitedly replaced
> the fuses. I inspected the circuit, reversed the two
> wires and did it again.  Same problem, but with a
> stern warning never to do that again..
>
> Another stupid mistake was committed a month ago as I
> plugged in a "new" antique Heathkit Condenser checker
> without checking the AC wiring.  The person who wired
> it long ago connected the hot side of the AC line to
> the black ground probe and as soon as the probe
> touched a chassis that I was working on, there was an
> amazing blast of light and a bang just before the room
> went black...I sat there for a very long moment
> contemplating life,
> and wondering if I was still here on earth.  Could
> feel my
> pulse pounding in my temples, and that was a very good
> sign.
>
> Could have been easily killed either time. Guess there
> must
> be some other purpose for staying here on earth...
> and I'm dying to find out what.
>
> Jim - W1FMR
>
>
>
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