[AT] Garden tractor???/Now RF hazard

[Howard Weeks]

I have been an amateur radio operator for may years.  As a teenager 
in Texas, I lived out in the country near a rural highway.  Had an AM 
transmitter that produced about 300 watts output.  Had an antenna 
that went from a tree near the house across a garden to some trees on 
the other side.  Any flourescent tube that was within about 35 - 40 
feet of that antenna would burn brightly when the transmitter was 
keyed and flicker when it was modulated.  I had about a dozen old 
tubes hanging in a tree near the outer end of the antenna.  All would 
light up and flicker when I was running the transmitter.

Would create quite a reaction from people driving down the highway!

Howard in GA

On 26 Jan 2010 at 9:38, Larry Goss wrote:

> RF can do funny things.  A colleague in Oklahoma used to tell me of
> their transmission building in Alaska having florescent tubes lying on
> the girders -- just the tubes.  They lit up without being connected to
> any power source.
> 
> When my uncle ran the "House of Magic" programs for GE back in the
> late 40's - early 50's, he generated enough radiation on stage that he
> could hold up a florescent tube and have just part of it light up by
> blocking the radiation with his hand and arm.  Fun stuff.
> 
> Larry
> 
> 



Howard Weeks
Harlem, GA 
K5JCP