"Richard Clark" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Jan 2007 21:45:17 -0800, "Sal M. Onella"
wrote:

Nobody ever explained it. It's a wonder we didn't make more smoke than
light. [AN/SRT-14, AN/SRT-15, for those who've been there & done that.]

Hi OM,

Must've been before they were replaced with the AN/URC-32 (Collins). I
suppose there weren't enough bulbs to load 500W (much less from about
a dozen bays). All I remember where conventional dummy loads and the
time we used the shorting bar on the finals' capacitors and took out
the island's power station (forgot to throw the power switch off).



The Collins AN/URC-32 was being taught at that same time, the early spring
of 1963. I distinctly recall getting a just-barely-passing grade in that
beauty because it was the last class in the school. I had my orders and I
was all studied-out after 38 weeks.

Each SRT-14/15 had its own bank of bulbs -- six or eight in a wire cage. No
idea of the series/parallel connection, though. The -14 did 100 watts. By
adding the HPA and its PS, the set became a -15 and did 500 watts.

Never performed the shorting bar trick myself but I saw the aftermath of one
of my crew doing it (AN/ULQ-6 - sometime in 1977). He converted much of the
line filter to a puddle of slag.