A Ham is Electrocuted today.. and his son.

[Paul Womble]

I saw this today on another email list.  Just a reminder to be safe during
any antenna project.

73
Paul K4FB



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fpqrp-l at mpna.com [mailto:owner-fpqrp-l at mpna.com] On Behalf Of
Perry FP#582
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 6:33 PM
To: FPQRP POST
Subject: [fpqrp] A Ham is Electrocuted today.. and his son.

Sent to me..Everyone take care and look up...
""
We all need to take power lines into consideration as this sad story
indicates

Subject: A ham and his son electrocuted?


KC0TIG and his son were electrocuted today while trying to put up an
antenna.

<http://tinyurl.com/6btuas>

<http://www.kmbc.com/news/16871003/detail.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/66988d>

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THESE NEWS ITEMS MOTIVATED CHUCK KRALY, K0XM, TO WRITE THIS MESSAGE:

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

I just saw this one on the news, and had to write a this message to be
  
passed on to the ham community, especially the newer hams.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

We lost another ham today, and it is a very sad event.
The parties
involved, were installing a Comet FIBERGLASS antenna, that came in contact
with a single 7620V power line. Now how do I know what the exact voltage is?
I built and maintained the substation that fed this circuit. I spent 27
yrears as a substaion technician for the Board of Public Utilities. I am
still in this field. So, I feel I have some experience in what I am passing
along.

In a nutshell, the location of the accident was a few blocks from the
substation. The wires you see going thru the residential areas are AT
MINUMUM 7200 volts from each wire to ground, and between any two of them is
13,800 volts. This is nothing to play with at any time. I have
  
seen a fault TOTALLY vaporize 1" copper buss (which is solid). Imagine
  
what it can do to a human.

Each wire is fed from what is called a 3 phase line.
>From there, it
can be broken off and sent down a property line as a single wire.  
Those are called "laterals" Yes, you will see a device at the break out
point, and this is a fuse. BUT the caution needs to be conveyed.  
These fuses are in the 60-100 amp range. This is at 7200 volts. On top
  
of that, anytime a tree falls across a line, or a pole gets hit, there
  
is a circuit on the "feeder" at the substaion that AUTOMATICALLY closes the
fedder back in, and TRIES to restore the power to the area.
  
Some of these "reclosers" can operate 2-5 times, depending on how they
  
are set. Now from the substaion end, the protective device is set for the
full fault capabilites of the line. In the case of BPU, this can be set at
600 AMPS, and multiples of that value. The protective devices are set for
what is called a "time" or and "instantaneous"  
operation. Picture a fast blow fuse and a slow blow, and you will understand
the difference in the settings. These setting are at multiple of the 600 amp
value. So, if there is a direct short, then it
  
will not trip until it reaches a value at, oh lets say, 8 times that value.
So we are looking at 4800 amps. and this is at 7200 volts and lower. So, it
trips, then it energizes it AGAIN. The possiblity of survival is slim and
none.

Now remember how I said they were installing a FIBERGLASS antenna?  
Well guess what. It is metal inside. Yes, fiberglass does not radiate as we
all know. Hence the metal. That is what caused the accident.  
They got too close to the line (remember your 'magnetic lines of flux'
  
theory? If not, look it up on the web). There is a minimum approach area
that MUST be followed. This changes for ALL voltages. This distance must NOT
be broken. If it is a flashover will happen, and it is not pretty.
Electricity will find the shortest path to ground. In this case it was a
couple of men.

Folks, this is nothing to take chances with. In my almost 30 yrs as a ham,
and 27 yrs in the power utility field, I have seen way too many "accidents."
Stop, look and if it is close or SEEMS that way- DON'T.  
Find another place. High voltage lines are NOT forgiving. Your life depends
on it. You always hear "it is the amps not the volts" well I can tell you
when you get at these levels, who is going to argue what killed the person
who had the accident. PLEASE ,PLEASE follow the warnings. ANYWHERE close is
too close.

Stay safe, and I hope we can enjoy many more years of hamming.

Thanks Guys,

Chuck Kraly, K0XM