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 _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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." <[hidden email]> To: <[hidden email]> 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 > > > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, n3drk wrote:
> 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? Ain't it sumpin' ... the moderators having a sense of humor and allowing us to express our own mistakes. Shame on 'em. 73,Thom-k3hrn www.zerobeat.net Home of QRP Web Ring, Drakelist home page,Drake Web Ring, Free Classified Ads for amateur radio, QRP IRC channel, Drake IRC Channel, Elecraft Owners Database www.tlchost.net/hosting/ *** Web Hosting as low as 3.49/month _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
Not sure but I think at least one or two of the moderators got sucked into
this and posted their own. They never mentioned the K-9 prototype. It was a 136Khz crystal radio. It had a cat whisker detector but was a real dog to get working. Wayne didn't like it because there was no software in it...just a rock. Mine stupid mistakes are SOOOO stupid....I won't even mention them. Like deliberately putting my High School locker key in the hot side of the AC outlet...holding hands with 3 or 4 labmates in chemistry and grabbing an unsuspecting passerby by each hand as the last person in the chain grabbed onto the grounded water faucet. Tom K2TA (who will post the last stupid post?) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thom R LaCosta" <[hidden email]> To: "n3drk" <[hidden email]> Cc: <[hidden email]>; "Jim F." <[hidden email]> Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2006 8:30 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Re: Stupid, stupid, stupid - OT > On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, n3drk wrote: > > > 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? > > Ain't it sumpin' ... the moderators having a sense of humor and allowing us to > express our own mistakes. > > Shame on 'em. > > 73,Thom-k3hrn > www.zerobeat.net Home of QRP Web Ring, Drakelist home page,Drake Web Ring, > Free Classified Ads for amateur radio, QRP IRC channel, Drake IRC Channel, > Elecraft Owners Database > www.tlchost.net/hosting/ *** Web Hosting as low as 3.49/month > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
In reply to this post by Jim F.-3
In a message dated 1/4/06 8:31:49 PM Eastern Standard Time, [hidden email]
writes: > Ain't it sumpin' ... the moderators having a sense of humor and allowing us > to > express our own mistakes. > And to learn from the mistakes of others. 73 de Jim, N2EY _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
In reply to this post by n3drk
Indeed. The signal to noise ratio on this reflector is getting beyond a
joke & it must really irritate people who have dialup accounts. What makes it worse is that all this OT drivel ends up in the searchable archives. 73, Dave G3VGR K2 #4783 n3drk wrote: > 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." <[hidden email]> > To: <[hidden email]> > 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 >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Post to: [hidden email] >> You must be a subscriber to post to the list. >> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): >> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm >> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com >> > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: [hidden email] > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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> The signal to noise ratio....
Good point, Dave. End of thread, please! Wayne N6KR --- http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
In reply to this post by Jim F.-3
On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 17:03:40 -0800 (PST), "Jim F." <[hidden email]>
wrote: >five weeks allowance You had an allowance? _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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