Anyway, a group of us, led by Larry, W3QCG, converted some of the old low-band vhf rigs to 10 meters. It was easy, really; just plug in a new crystal, retune the rig and you were on the air.
Our little gang converged daily on 29.6 MHz (Mc. in those days). Larry had a rig at his father's tire shop, so that became "base," with the rest of us being the mobiles, or "car 1," car 2," etc. Before you all start to think "!#$!#%% bunch of bootleggers!" we'd use those "tactical" calls just for fun, and always signed our actual calls in the exchange.
Well, on this particular day, I'd hopped in my TR-3 sports car (no, not the R.L. Drake version), and headed out. Stopped at the local gas station and took on a bit of gas, so I'd be ready for the day's adventures, then headed down Main Street. Now, I should have known; the kid usually spilled a couple of drops as he topped off the tank, anyway, but I didn't pay attention.
Heading on down Main, I flipped on the radio. Actually, the control head. The rig itself resided back in the trunk. Just as I started up the hill, I picked up the mike and gave Larry a call, "Car 1...th... KABOOM!!!!!!!!!!"
There I sat, dazed, the car dead in the middle of Main Street. As I climbed out, an attendant from Potoka's Service dashed out holding a fire extinguisher which he immediately aimed at the gaping opening where my trunk lid usually sat. He'd used one of those dry powder extinguishers, so everything was over about as soon as it started.
Then we heard the sirens of the fire truck approaching. One of the bystanders spoke up, "Well, there I was leaning against this utility pole when all of a sudden, I heard this KABOOM!!!!, and your trunk lid flew open and a ball of flame shot twenty feet in the air. I just reached over and pulled down the lever of the call box."
A glance inside my trunk showed everything to be still there, although the rig was just a wee bit sooty! And covered in that dry powder extinguisher. Nothing else was damaged. The trunk lid even closed and latched without a problem!
About twenty minutes later, I stopped at Larry's place to tell him what happened. Larry met me as I parked. "What happened? I heard you say 'Car 1' then 'pfffffttt' and nothing!" When I explained, Larry took a look at the radio and told me I'd better get it cleaned out right away. Apparently the dry powder was very corrosive. At any rate, the rig was toast. All the tube sockets were so corroded that nothing worked anymore. Ah, well....I think I only paid something like twenty bucks for the whole rig.
What happened? Looking back, I figure that when I'd got gas, the attendant let some gas run over the side of my TR-3, and a few drops must have seeped in under the trunk gasket. The gas must have evaporated almost instantly, leaving its vapor inside the trunk. When I keyed the rig, I actually applied power to the dynamotor as well as the transmitter. The dynamotor applied high voltage to the final plate circuit. But, being a brush-type system, a few sparks were generated under normal operation. The atmosphere inside my TR-3 was explosive and when the spark occurred....KABOOM!!!!!!!!
Actualy, I'm quite lucky. Had the trunk lid not blown open, the force most likely would have moved forward to the passenger compartment. And the gas tank sat between the trunk and the passenger compartment, so maybe I wouln't be here to tell the story of "Car 1 - KABOOM!!!!"
73, de W3SKM Glenn