Safety

[Terry Perdue]

Hi Alan,

Just a few other thoughts - possibly obvious. Don't have the radio or TV on
in the background - it's too easy to let your mind wander. Let anyone else
in the household know (by note on the door if they're not home) what you're
doing so that they won't startle you by walking in unexpectedly. And don't
be tempted to take any shortcuts. For example, if you need to make a
temporary connection, don't use alligator clips, which might slip off, but
solder the connection and tape it (after making sure it's dead, of course).

Just as an aside, I have to tell how I've gotten nailed twice from hand to
hand and lived to tell about it. One time I was talking on the air with a
grounded metal mic in my left hand. I subconsciously noticed that the 807 on
my open chassis Heising modulator was crooked in its socket. So I reached up
with my right hand to straighten it - by the uninsulated plate cap of
course. 1500VDC. Another time was in a high school science class, when a
classmate saw me working with a TV power transformer, and thought it would
be fun to plug it in while I was connecting something across the 800V
secondary. Both times I let out a scream and my vision blacked out for a
minute or two. If you haven't gotten a jolt through your body, I can tell
you that the feeling of all your muscles contracting is one you won't ever
forget.

Take care,

Terry

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