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Picking Up a Power Supply Using Convenient "Handles"

The concept that a high voltage may not be dangerous comes from the fact that if the source impedance is high enough, the voltage can’t push much current through even a very low resistance.

I can’t think about this topic without remembering with horror an experience with my first ham rig. The power supply had a transformer with very substantial terminals that were the high voltage connection, about 700 volts AC. The terminals and the transformer were substantial enough that a convenient way to pick up the power supply was to grab one of the high-voltage terminals in each hand, being careful, of course, to shut the power off first.

Of course.

The jolt threw me halfway across the room flat on my back.

I was lucky it was 700 volts. A lower voltage would probably have let me hang on while it killed me.

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