this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2025
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Tear Down Ham Radio Site (eviltoast.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
8 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

My good friend's father passed away several years ago. We are going to clean out the garage. He ran a ham radio station. He did a LOT of awful wiring. (USA 110v systems)

I'm gonna clean it all up so there are no fires.

What can I expect? Badly wired 210v setups? Capacitors carrying deadly charge? I'm a computer nerd, and know very little about ham radio.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Most ham radio equipment operates on 12vdc. AC brings noise, so aside from dedicated external power supplies, you won't see much AC-powered equipment.

The maximum power a ham can transmit is 1500 watts. You don't need a 220v circuit to draw 1500 watts, and the majority of hams operate with less than 200. If there is 220v equipment in there, it will be the first I've ever seen.

Don't turn on any transmitters or amplifiers, especially if they aren't connected to an antenna. You can damage the transmitter. Powered on, there is some risk of RF burns should you contact antenna feedlines while transmitting. While any transmitter is powered on, treat all antenna connectors like power outlets. With the transmitter off, they are safe.

Ham radio can be anything from a couple handheld radios to entire rooms full of transmitters feeding acres of antenna arrays. Without knowing what you're dealing with, it's hard to identify any specific risks.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Great. I have exactly as much info as you, or I would share more. My whole interest is safety atm, so this is the info I needed.

Thanks to you and other replies. I'll read anything else posted.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What's the antenna situation like? If there's a tower of any sort, I strongly suggest you contact a local ham radio club for advice before trying to remove them.

There's probably a thin wire "dipole" antenna overhead somewhere that should probably be removed if it's not being used. It'll be a wire rope with a feedline in the middle, and the ends strung out to tall objects.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

We might have somebody interested in the antenna. I'm going to climb up and inspect it for safety for now.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I hope you are able to redo wiring. Ham could become invaluable for information.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Friend, I'm gonna donate it to SurplusGizmos. I have other talents. Somebody else can do RF.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago

I hear you. We all have our own talents and interests, that's fair.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 weeks ago

UPDATE: The radio is a half homebuilt wooden box w lots of leads. It was powered, had speakers attached. There was another harness that had been cut. Its been unplugged and packed.

The antena tho ... we got issues.

First, I've not verified that its not powered. Might need to crawl an attic. Trace some wire.

Second, this thing is a construct. Three poles w glass insulated wire strung between. One pole bolts to the house right where the power comes in. If the tree lost a branch and snagged the wire, and that bracket failed, it could take out their power.

I have some precarious work to do this summer.