[Elecraft] Bare Foot

[Edward Cole]

Just wondering on the wisdom of attaching a "wire" to one's ankle and 
then contacting live voltage with your hand!  As an EMT that was the 
worst scenario for Cardiac Shock and Death due to electrocution.  The 
ankle and wrist straps are supposed to have added resistance to avoid 
this, still...???  I know that when I work on my 4kV QRO power 
supply, that I will not be wearing any conductive bracelets, rings, 
watch bands, etc.  But that is a different subject ;-)

Most of us probably have the ham shack in a spare bedroom with 
carpeting (I do), so using an anti-static mat when working with 
sensitive devices is just being smart with your money.  I bought mine 
from a regional electronic supplier for $29.95 (came with a coiled 
cord with alligator clip).  I had a wrist strap, already.  I did not 
bother with tying this into my home safety ground.  But humidity is 
above 35% and not experiencing any static shocks that are typical in 
winter's low humidity.  I think I will bring my radio ground to the 
work bench instead of using house wiring (shorter run to earth-ground).

73, Ed
The K3 is like the proverbial onion, got a lot of layers to peal!

>------------------------------
>
>Message: 37
>Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:04:55 -0500
>From: Mark Bayern <plcmark at gmail.com>
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bare Foot
>To: Wes Stewart <n7ws at yahoo.com>
>Cc: Elecraft List <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
>Message-ID:
>         <20b22a251003290804y510496bbt4cebaa026f7d1657 at mail.gmail.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> > It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel 
> straps as part of ESD protection in industry.
>
>Last time I saw heel straps in use was in the late 80s at a site that
>builds solid fuel rocket motors for military and aerospace uses. They
>also had testing equipment to check that your shoes really would
>dissipate any static charge. When you are in a bay with a booster
>containing 600,000lbs of fuel, static discharges are discouraged.
>
>
>Mark  AD5SS
>
>
>
>On Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 9:42 AM, Wes Stewart <n7ws at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > It's (at least was when I was still working) common to use heel 
> straps as part of ESD protection in industry.? These were of 
> similar material to wrist straps and contacted the sweat layer 
> inside the shoe on one end and the floor on the other.? The floor 
> had to be treated with an ESD safe coating, however. ?Likewise, ESD 
> mats were only cleaned with an approved cleaner and smocks that 
> didn't generate static charges were worn over street clothing.
> >
> > Modern linoleum (the real stuff) often has a coating on the 
> surface which is likely to be some kind of plastic and if you're 
> using "linoleum" generically, then you might have vinyl that is 
> also plastic and potentially an ESD generator, albeit probably not 
> as bad as carpet.
> >
> > You will no doubt get an argument from some saying being 
> connected to the floor is an unsafe thing while working on things 
> electrical. This is true if you stand a chance of coming in contact 
> with the A/C mains.
> >
> > That said, I use the bare foot technique sometimes, although the 
> floors in my house are brick and not plastic.
> >
> > Wes ?N7WS
> >

73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
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