On Thu, 20 Mar 2014 12:19:53 -0400, Tom Gardner Mars@Tacks wrote:

Over the years I have amassed a collection of a dozen or so touch lamps
that don't work. Some were cheap and some weren't, most donated some I
bought. I haven't looked at any of them but now I could use a few and
some are really quite nice. I was thinking of just putting an in-line
switch on the cord and direct wiring the bulbs unless there is a
cheap-easy fix and a common denominator problem. I don't even know how
they work other than it's body capacitance or such.

A Ham radio next door will turn the lamp on and off. Particularly in
CW mode it is quite spectacular. Ask me how I know...

Michael Koblic,
Campbell River, BC