[Johnson] Ranger relay sockets

Sat, 10 Jan 2004 12:40:07 -0500

One of the things to remember was that these were first distributed in
the '50s.

AT THAT TIME, there were a huge number of homes (most?) with
NON-polarized, NON-grounded outlets. There was no assurance at all
that the hot lead would be on a given wire from the outlet.

AT THAT TIME, the double fused plug was an attempt to get a fuse in
the hot lead, WHICHEVER one that might be.

AT THAT TIME, it was the best shot at a very dangerous wiring
situation out in user-land.

IF you were careful to only use the proper (matched) fuses in the
plug, the hot lead fuse or both fuses would blow, depending on what
the trouble was. Once unmatched or over-sized fuses got in the plug,
it became the crapshoot.

I saved up paper route money to get my own radio (one of those 5-tube
AC-DC jobs), brought it home to my Aunt's house in Columbus, Ohio,
where she had no wall outlet anywhere that would take a polarized
plug. I got one of those adapters to plug it in. I kept it setting on
top of the radiator in my room, next to the only AC outlet in the
room.

BACK THEN, pretty sure that setup was more dangerous than the Ranger's
fused plug, at least in my Aunt's house.

NOW, when you probably can't sell an old house without 100% modernized
electrical wiring, the double fused plug is just a widow-maker. Take
it out, put it in one of those sealable freezer bags, and keep it with
the manual for the next owner. Then when you sell it, you can say
"original double fused plug included separately".

If you take one of those computer cords, cut off the female end, then
you can run it through one of those small RS plastic project boxes
with a fuse holder in it, and not have to monkey with inside the
Ranger. Just remember that a lot of those cords have Eu colors in them
and hot lead is  brown (?). I always have to use an ohmmeter to check
continuity to the narrow blade on the plug.

73, Guy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Harmon" <[email protected]>
To: "'john'" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2004 10:46 AM
Subject: RE: [Johnson] Ranger relay sockets

> John....that's a silly solution but I am not the only one of those
> thousands of hams that remove that fused line cord and that
porcelain
> connector thingie....
> I don't care about the metal hacking of something that is clearly a
> dangerous design.....
> Johnson should have and probably did know better.
> This is kinda like this country...someone has to step up to the
plate
> and do what needs to be done instead of talking nice and politically
> correct.
> These things WILL be changed on all similarly wired rigs that come
> through this station.
>
> Regards
>
> Dave Harmon
> NSRCA 586
> K6XYZ[at]comcast[dot]net
> Torrance, Ca.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected]
> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of john
> Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2004 5:55 AM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: [Johnson] Ranger relay sockets
>
> >David Harmon <[email protected]> wrote:The last line says it
> all...those
> >porcelain sockets are even more
> >dangerous than the line cord plug. I chop those dang things out of
> there
> >and use a chassis punch for a round, 2 pin Jones connector that I
mount
> >with pop rivets.
>
> Ouch!
>
> It's much easier (and easier on original old Rangers) to religiously
> ground the chassis, use a properly installed three wire cord, and
most
> importantly of all, use a modicum of common sense, and continue to
use
> the original EFJ socket.  It wouldn't be my first choice (now) as a
> designer,
> but it served thousands of hams for decades without any problem.
>
> My three rangers have operated for 15 years in my care with the
original
> socket, and I'm still here to tell about it! :-)
>
> All of this stuff is somewhat dangerous... try a lysco transmitter,
with
> an
> uninsulated B+ jumper exposed on the back panel... the Heath amp
> (Warrior?) with full B+ on the meter...  there's risk in all this ol
d
> gear.
> We're a lot more cautious (worried, afraid, fearful...pick your
term)
> these
> days than we used to be. Sometimes that's good, other times not.
>
> A great deal of metal hacking, worry and anguish can be eliminated
by
> using the best safety implement that we have...the grey matter
between
> our ears.
>
> Respectfully
> John K5MO