[AMPS] RF BURNS

[Edward Pagaduan]

Well, might be proof that the people revising the National Electrical Code
had some sense in ruling that only qualified elecricians can wire an outlet.

At 01:25 PM 4/15/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>A good friend was over last night and we got to talking about HV mishaps. He
>said his worst experience happened while wiring up a new contest station.
>Evidently, the owner of the station had wired the 220VAC outlet for the amp
>incorrectly. He couldn't remember exactly how it had been miswired, but I
>gather that one of the hot leads was connected to either the ground or
>neutral pin, putting AC voltage on the amp chassis. My friend grabbed the
>coax from the transceiver, which was was either grounded or plugged into a
>correctly wired 110VAC outlet, and grabbed the coax coming from the amp. I
>guess he was going to connect them with a barrel connector or something. So,
>one hand is grabbing a grounded PL-259 the other one hand is grabbing a
>PL-259 with AC power on it. All he could do was just stand there, alone in
>the room and being electrocuted, unable to let go. I imagine that the brain
>would be pretty whacked out by this experience, but he says he was aware of
>what was happening and couldn't do anything about it. His muscles would not
>respond to any commands from his brain. Luckily, after about ten seconds,
>his knees collapsed and he fell against the desk, which knocked the cables
>from his hands.
>
>What's truly amazing about this is that he was not instantly killed. I have
>to believe that the AC path through his body went right through his heart.
>Perhaps the ground connection was poor or he actually survived a brief
>stoppage of his heart. This may be totally unrealted to the incident, but
>many years later, at the age of 38, he started having grand mal epilleptic
>siezures. They were not real frequent, but had to be controlled with
>medication. He also claims to have some problems with long-term memory.
>Still, he's in very good shape considering that he could have been dead.
>
>It's not a cure-all, and wouldn't have helped my friend in that particular
>situation, but the old rule about one hand in the pocket while working
>around high voltage makes some sense.
>
>73, Dick, WC1M
>
>
>
>--
>FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/ampfaq.html
>Submissions:              amps@contesting.com
>Administrative requests:  amps-REQUEST@contesting.com
>Problems:                 owner-amps@contesting.com
>Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>
>


--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/ampfaq.html
Submissions:              amps@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  amps-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-amps@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm