A Crummy Commercial

 I saw this story on ArsTechnica: https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/08/backyard-hens-eggs-contain-40-times-more-lead-on-average-than-shop-eggs/ Although this was in Australia I suspect it might be true for urban chickens in the US, too.  And most of the lead comes from the burning of leaded fuel in cars. According to this site, tetra-ethyl-lead combusts in gasoline to form lead oxide: https://www.shell.com/business-customers/aviation/aeroshell/knowledge-centre/technical-talk/techart-18-30071600.html Also, I didn't know that airplanes still use leaded gas. To me this would also beg the question:  what about urban garden produce ?  What are the lead levels there ? Yikes !  Sometimes persistence is NOT a virtue. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

 Seeing a printed warning in a black box is never good these days, usually on medications or cigarettes.  Black Box = THIS IS SERIOUS, PAY ATTENTION N2CQR posted this black box warning May 1939 QST  on his Soldersmoke blog:   http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2022/06/soldersmoke-podcast-238-solder-smoke.html And what prompted the 1939 article with the black box warning were the deaths in 1938 of both Ross Hull (QST editor) and Phil Murray. I've gotten stunned by high voltage in the HW-16 In the 21st century these deaths would be a lot less likely.  Why ?  Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters for one thing.  Also, most gear is low voltage (50 volts seems like a good dividing line between low and high voltage).  And finally, people seem scared to fix their own stuff, not so much because of electrocution but because of the money invested in the gear. In reality we are all just containers of salty (conductive) fluid.  Puncture that outer container, ad...

 heard about this on Face: https://www.tauntongazette.com/story/news/fire/2022/06/23/taunton-ma-electrocution-man-dies-415-danforth-street/7711332001/ source: https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2022/06/23/NTDG/2ef5e132-2b41-420b-a0b3-da606eec59ca-Fire_escape.png Here is the house from last year per Google street view: AFAICT, that aluminum ladder is an alternate fire exit thingy. Cruise easy, folks, as QST said in the late 1930s:  "Death is Permanent" Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

This graphic was from QST, August 1962, page 79 but it could have been from almost any issue back in the days of high-voltage tube gear.  The idea was to make certain that the rig was not powered BEFORE working on it. Now most ham gear is run from 12 Volts internally but it's still a good idea to switch off before taking off the covers and working on a rig.   But that isn't what this post is about.   I've lived on Washington Island, WI for over 25 years now.  In my memory there have been two serious fires, both in unoccupied buildings.  The first fire was a summer home - the cause was attributed to a television set.  The second fire was at the local bakery, after hours.  The cause there was attributed to a credit card reader.  Both fires were total losses. Maybe the 21st century version of "Switch to Safety !" should involve turning off unused electrical stuff, especially when no one is there to mind it.  Modern appliances often do not h...