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Old November 30th 05, 05:47 AM posted to rec.radio.amateur.boatanchors
 
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Default getting bit by my FT-101EE chassis

All,

I don't know if I am grounding my station correctly.

The radials of my 20m vertical are connected to my trailer's electrical
system ground rod. My coax shield is connected both to the radials and
the ground rod. I plug my antenna into the Yaesu and turn it on. I
can hear stations just fine, and I have no problems touching the
chassis. However, the instant I disconnected the antenna but hang onto
the coax, I got a mild shock on both arms if I should momentarily
touch the chassis of the Yaesu. So, I understand I have a problem.

Now I noticed that the Yaesu uses a 2-prong AC cord adapter, which is
"before code" and therefore is unsafe by today's standards. If I
rewrire the AC cord to 3-prong, should that remove the hazard? If so,
what pinout do I use? The FT-101 Shop service manual does not list
where positive, negative, and neutral should be on the Yaesu power
plug.in Figure 1-2.

Thanks,

The Eternal Squire

P.S. I hope I have not long-term defibrillated myself. Should I visit
a hospital for cardiac system damage even if the shock was mild? I now
realize that I probably could have been killed. Right now I have
everything unplugged and disconnected until I can get better advice.