[Hallicrafters] Backward caps

[TC Dailey]

Yup... used to be an Engineering Tech at the old King Radio Corp. in Olathe, KS (avionics).  We'd buy caps in large bulk quanities, and occasionally, they'd be marked backwards... one learned very quickly, NOT to apply the 24vdc supply voltage at once... we had these huge old "NFB" (we called 'e'm NFG) variac-varible unregulated p/s's but they would put out 30 amps.  You could always tell where the new guy was, 'cause the odd electrolytic would go "BAM!", and there'd be pieces of it in the radio, your hair, your clothing, eyebrows, et. al.  The old black ones were especially spectacular.

Early Panasonic CCTV cameras, subjected to 220vac (electrictians who tried to split 220 feeds), were quite a splendid show, as well.  A JC Penny store had 30 cameras, which went simultaneously - sounded like a small firefight - after I crawled out from under a table (old memories of RVN), there was all this thin cardboard and tinfoil, fluttering down.

Tom Dailey
WAØEAJ
Denver