On Fri, 25 Jul 2014 07:23:17 -0500, "Lloyd E. Sponenburgh"
lloydspinsidemindspring.com wrote:

John B. Slocomb fired this volley in
:

Somebody once said that there are three kinds of people. those who
learn through study; those who learn through experience; and those who
just have to pee on the electric fence.

There are some of us who've learnt all three ways! G

When I was a late teen, (de WA4ZEG) I once got a little finger in_between
(not touching either) a 'final' plate connection and a mounting bracket
on a 250W 30MHz SSB transmitter, while it was keyed. (yes, sometimes you
do have to work on them 'hot', and I was aware it was) I was probing
with a 30KV 'scope probe at the time, but foolishly had my pinky
dangling.

I was very awarely NOT grounded to _anything_, and I did not get shocked.
What I did get was a very tiny, neat hole drilled (burned) all the way
through the finger, and out the other side. Had to have it cut open, and
a drain installed. (not the transmitter, the finger). That was - what -
less than a kilovolt, or so?

I accidentally got my right pinky zapped on an 800v lead and ground
when troubleshooting a monitor during electronics training at Coleman
College. Those pinkies are much safer dangling during High Tea, eh?
Instead of a hole, I got a line of internal scar tissue which bothered
me for the better part of a decade.

The plate connections didn't like to be hooded because that seemed to
cause their slow dust collection and corona discharge to worsen, so I
subsequently somewhat 'deformed' the bracket (pliers brake) and installed
a styrene shield plate on the bracket side. (this time, powered off G)

That's tellin' it!

--
Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right
to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to
learn new things and move forward with your life.
-- Dr. David M. Burns