That unique smell of burnt electronics!
It is another sunny day in the land of HOP; he is overjoyed by the purchase he has just made, a Yaesu 857d with an LDG- Z-100 auto tuner, and a bunch of accessories from a fellow ham. Everything is working well, HOP has been taking a go bag full of his recent purchase out on multiple DXpiditions, making contacts, and having as much fun as a ham could. Well, some weeks later, HOP is attempting to make a quick contact by tuning 6 meters on his g5rv antenna while in his shack, when the auto tuner seems to be stuck trying to figure out a happy place. The clicking and clacking of relays seems endless. So HOP thinks ok, I will simply pull the power plug from the back of the tuner, and it will reset and then just plug the power back in again. HOP forgetting that there are two holes on the rear of the unit, one for power and another for a controller, and not looking at the back, pushes the power connector into the wrong hole. “I think there are warnings in the Old Testament about this”. A pop and snap is heard, the power supply blinks and gripes, all radios blink off and back on and the sickening smell of smoke becomes apparent rolling out of the Z-100 auto tuner. ”He’s dead Jim” comes to HOP’s mind from one of his favorite childhood TV shows. Opening the tuners case doesn’t reveal anything obvious and HOP bows his head, because it did briefly come to mind to look at the back of the tuner before plugging it back in. But in his haste to make a contact, he didn’t.
Moral of the story! Always identify which hole you are putting your power plug in!
It is another sunny day in the land of HOP; he is overjoyed by the purchase he has just made, a Yaesu 857d with an LDG- Z-100 auto tuner, and a bunch of accessories from a fellow ham. Everything is working well, HOP has been taking a go bag full of his recent purchase out on multiple DXpiditions, making contacts, and having as much fun as a ham could. Well, some weeks later, HOP is attempting to make a quick contact by tuning 6 meters on his g5rv antenna while in his shack, when the auto tuner seems to be stuck trying to figure out a happy place. The clicking and clacking of relays seems endless. So HOP thinks ok, I will simply pull the power plug from the back of the tuner, and it will reset and then just plug the power back in again. HOP forgetting that there are two holes on the rear of the unit, one for power and another for a controller, and not looking at the back, pushes the power connector into the wrong hole. “I think there are warnings in the Old Testament about this”. A pop and snap is heard, the power supply blinks and gripes, all radios blink off and back on and the sickening smell of smoke becomes apparent rolling out of the Z-100 auto tuner. ”He’s dead Jim” comes to HOP’s mind from one of his favorite childhood TV shows. Opening the tuners case doesn’t reveal anything obvious and HOP bows his head, because it did briefly come to mind to look at the back of the tuner before plugging it back in. But in his haste to make a contact, he didn’t.
Moral of the story! Always identify which hole you are putting your power plug in!