A box of old blasting caps (mercury fulminate/KClO3 mix) was just found in one of the old buildings in the mining town of St. Elmo, CO, 2 July 2015.
When members of Historic St. Elmo and Chalk Creek Canyon Inc. cleaned out the outhouse behind the Home Comfort Hotel in St. Elmo, they found a potentially explosive surprise. On the floor of the outhouse, they found what they believed to be dynamite, said Walter Roth, a member of the historical group. Later in the day a bomb squad found blasting caps rather than dynamite.
I had operated there with my PRC319 Pedestrian Mobile right in front of that Hotel several times before. (See CQ Magazine June 2016, p. 16-18).
While the electric blasting caps are usually shorted and would not be effected by a QRP radio, my 50W radio was at a dangerously high level to be transmitting near a box of blasting caps.
It would be a smart idea to avoid operating in any old mining areas where unexploded dynamite might exist.
Paul, W0RW




| WB4BTL | 2019-10-22 | |
|---|---|---|
| Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| I don't know anything about blasting caps per se, but as soon as I saw "KCLO3" in the verbiage, then I remembered the powerful reactionary characteristics for the formal Potassium Chlorate! Beware... | ||
| N2ZD | 2019-10-02 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: particularly old stuff | ||
| KA7EKW wins the internet!! lol Reply to a comment by : KA7EKW on 2019-09-29 "Apparently one of them was an IFF set which for some reason had got out still with demolition charges in place....." Early version of the RigBlaster . . . Reply to a comment by : G3RZP on 2019-09-23 Some years ago, there were reports of a garden shed in west London exploding. In the shed was a number of bits of WW2 surplus gear belonging to the deceased some years previously owner. (House had been inherited by his son) Apparently one of them was an IFF set which for some reason had got out still with demolition charges in place..... Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2019-09-23 Should combine threads...this thread and the one right before it. Bring those linears up to the high country and watch the show. Reply to a comment by : KD0REQ on 2019-09-22 old explosive materials are typically unstable, aka, look at them and they go boom. if they weren't intrinsically unstable, they would not be commercial explosives. | ||
| KA7EKW | 2019-09-29 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: particularly old stuff | ||
| "Apparently one of them was an IFF set which for some reason had got out still with demolition charges in place....." Early version of the RigBlaster . . . Reply to a comment by : G3RZP on 2019-09-23 Some years ago, there were reports of a garden shed in west London exploding. In the shed was a number of bits of WW2 surplus gear belonging to the deceased some years previously owner. (House had been inherited by his son) Apparently one of them was an IFF set which for some reason had got out still with demolition charges in place..... Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2019-09-23 Should combine threads...this thread and the one right before it. Bring those linears up to the high country and watch the show. Reply to a comment by : KD0REQ on 2019-09-22 old explosive materials are typically unstable, aka, look at them and they go boom. if they weren't intrinsically unstable, they would not be commercial explosives. | ||
| K9MHZ | 2019-09-28 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| That’s good comedy ^^^^^^ Reply to a comment by : WA4NUN on 2019-09-27 Until now I did not think there were too many ways to put out a booming signal, | ||
| WA4NUN | 2019-09-27 | |
|---|---|---|
| Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| Until now I did not think there were too many ways to put out a booming signal, | ||
| W1ER | 2019-09-27 | |
|---|---|---|
| Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| ... and if this isn't scary enough, try this out for size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment#General_synopsis 'ER | ||
| K6AER | 2019-09-26 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| The example given says nothing about the carrier accident being a result of RF radiation. Reply to a comment by : K4MLA on 2019-09-26 As a Certified EMC Engineer at a naval facility, I designed and constructed fiber optic telemetry equipment to monitor induced or conducted currents in various fuzed devices within weapon systems. This is the Hazards to Electromagnetic Radiated Ordnance (HERO) Program. But extensive testing and I mean EXTENSIVE TESTING is done on any weapon system before putting it into service to prevent such accidents. On board ships, the RF levels can be EXTREMELY high across the spectrum. But to answer the question "Has a device ever been set off" as the result of high RF field? In a word, yes. For example... https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/disasters-and-phenomena/forrestal-fire.html Reply to a comment by : WA8OJR on 2019-09-24 Can anyone provide details of an incident involving accidental detonation of explosives where the cause was definitively traced to radio transmission? Just askin'... | ||
| K4MLA | 2019-09-26 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| As a Certified EMC Engineer at a naval facility, I designed and constructed fiber optic telemetry equipment to monitor induced or conducted currents in various fuzed devices within weapon systems. This is the Hazards to Electromagnetic Radiated Ordnance (HERO) Program. But extensive testing and I mean EXTENSIVE TESTING is done on any weapon system before putting it into service to prevent such accidents. On board ships, the RF levels can be EXTREMELY high across the spectrum. But to answer the question "Has a device ever been set off" as the result of high RF field? In a word, yes. For example... https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/disasters-and-phenomena/forrestal-fire.html Reply to a comment by : WA8OJR on 2019-09-24 Can anyone provide details of an incident involving accidental detonation of explosives where the cause was definitively traced to radio transmission? Just askin'... | ||
| KA3JLW | 2019-09-25 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| The snow would be enough to keep me away. :) Reply to a comment by : N9AOP on 2019-09-25 You are supposed to read a magazine--not transmit next to one. Art Reply to a comment by : W0BBB on 2019-09-24 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=15&ved=2ahUKEwj5naq42unkAhUS7J4KHQp-CtoQFjAOegQIChAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffiles.nc.gov%2Fncdol%2Fosh%2Fpublications%2Fig11.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2Sh7qmeL0-3_yFofjoMKx_ An interesting read about RF energy and electronic caps Reply to a comment by : WA8OJR on 2019-09-24 Can anyone provide details of an incident involving accidental detonation of explosives where the cause was definitively traced to radio transmission? Just askin'... | ||
| N9AOP | 2019-09-25 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| You are supposed to read a magazine--not transmit next to one. Art Reply to a comment by : W0BBB on 2019-09-24 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=15&ved=2ahUKEwj5naq42unkAhUS7J4KHQp-CtoQFjAOegQIChAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffiles.nc.gov%2Fncdol%2Fosh%2Fpublications%2Fig11.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2Sh7qmeL0-3_yFofjoMKx_ An interesting read about RF energy and electronic caps Reply to a comment by : WA8OJR on 2019-09-24 Can anyone provide details of an incident involving accidental detonation of explosives where the cause was definitively traced to radio transmission? Just askin'... | ||
| W0BBB | 2019-09-24 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=15&ved=2ahUKEwj5naq42unkAhUS7J4KHQp-CtoQFjAOegQIChAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Ffiles.nc.gov%2Fncdol%2Fosh%2Fpublications%2Fig11.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2Sh7qmeL0-3_yFofjoMKx_ An interesting read about RF energy and electronic caps Reply to a comment by : WA8OJR on 2019-09-24 Can anyone provide details of an incident involving accidental detonation of explosives where the cause was definitively traced to radio transmission? Just askin'... | ||
| WA8OJR | 2019-09-24 | |
|---|---|---|
| Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| Can anyone provide details of an incident involving accidental detonation of explosives where the cause was definitively traced to radio transmission? Just askin'... | ||
| N7KFD | 2019-09-24 | |
|---|---|---|
| Danger in St. Elmo | ||
St. Elmo's Fire? (Sorry, I had to say it) | ||
| W6BP | 2019-09-24 | |
|---|---|---|
| Danger in St. Elmo | ||
| For most of us hams, French fries pose a bigger risk than dynamite. | ||
| K6AER | 2019-09-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: particularly old stuff | ||
| You forgot the greatest fear among hams world wide.......OLD AGE. Reply to a comment by : KC7MF on 2019-09-23 Well now I an truly terrified. Not only must I not use my radio in mining towns (like my own) but I can't use it in neighborhoods where some monumentally stupid person might have stashed explosives in the shed. Maybe we should ban radios at all. And anything else that might spark and make a "radio" wave. But I suppose that we live in a dangerous world. In my neighborhood alone, in addition to the ham radio equivalent of spontaneous human combustion (being blown up by your radio) we have the following things to worry about: Coyotes Bats Snakes Scorpions Other insects Putin Bears West Nile Virus Pit Bulls Lightning Runaway geezer cars Runaway geezer golf carts Geezers Geezerettes Wildfires Earthquakes Sinkholes Rogue everythings RFI Paper cuts Drone Strikes Drone Surveillance Neighbors droning on about communism Bad brakes Bad breaks Sewer breaks The government This is not a complete list of course but you get my point. While I cannot say that I will not cast a glance around to see if there is the odd H-bomb standing in the corner, if my neighbor has unexploded ordnance in his tool shed then he is a good candidate for a posthumous Darwin Award. Reply to a comment by : G3RZP on 2019-09-23 Some years ago, there were reports of a garden shed in west London exploding. In the shed was a number of bits of WW2 surplus gear belonging to the deceased some years previously owner. (House had been inherited by his son) Apparently one of them was an IFF set which for some reason had got out still with demolition charges in place..... Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2019-09-23 Should combine threads...this thread and the one right before it. Bring those linears up to the high country and watch the show. Reply to a comment by : KD0REQ on 2019-09-22 old explosive materials are typically unstable, aka, look at them and they go boom. if they weren't intrinsically unstable, they would not be commercial explosives. | ||
| KC7MF | 2019-09-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: particularly old stuff | ||
| Well now I an truly terrified. Not only must I not use my radio in mining towns (like my own) but I can't use it in neighborhoods where some monumentally stupid person might have stashed explosives in the shed. Maybe we should ban radios at all. And anything else that might spark and make a "radio" wave. But I suppose that we live in a dangerous world. In my neighborhood alone, in addition to the ham radio equivalent of spontaneous human combustion (being blown up by your radio) we have the following things to worry about: Coyotes Bats Snakes Scorpions Other insects Putin Bears West Nile Virus Pit Bulls Lightning Runaway geezer cars Runaway geezer golf carts Geezers Geezerettes Wildfires Earthquakes Sinkholes Rogue everythings RFI Paper cuts Drone Strikes Drone Surveillance Neighbors droning on about communism Bad brakes Bad breaks Sewer breaks The government This is not a complete list of course but you get my point. While I cannot say that I will not cast a glance around to see if there is the odd H-bomb standing in the corner, if my neighbor has unexploded ordnance in his tool shed then he is a good candidate for a posthumous Darwin Award. Reply to a comment by : G3RZP on 2019-09-23 Some years ago, there were reports of a garden shed in west London exploding. In the shed was a number of bits of WW2 surplus gear belonging to the deceased some years previously owner. (House had been inherited by his son) Apparently one of them was an IFF set which for some reason had got out still with demolition charges in place..... Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2019-09-23 Should combine threads...this thread and the one right before it. Bring those linears up to the high country and watch the show. Reply to a comment by : KD0REQ on 2019-09-22 old explosive materials are typically unstable, aka, look at them and they go boom. if they weren't intrinsically unstable, they would not be commercial explosives. | ||
| G3RZP | 2019-09-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: particularly old stuff | ||
| Some years ago, there were reports of a garden shed in west London exploding. In the shed was a number of bits of WW2 surplus gear belonging to the deceased some years previously owner. (House had been inherited by his son) Apparently one of them was an IFF set which for some reason had got out still with demolition charges in place..... Reply to a comment by : K9MHZ on 2019-09-23 Should combine threads...this thread and the one right before it. Bring those linears up to the high country and watch the show. Reply to a comment by : KD0REQ on 2019-09-22 old explosive materials are typically unstable, aka, look at them and they go boom. if they weren't intrinsically unstable, they would not be commercial explosives. | ||
| K9MHZ | 2019-09-23 | |
|---|---|---|
| RE: particularly old stuff | ||
| Should combine threads...this thread and the one right before it. Bring those linears up to the high country and watch the show. Reply to a comment by : KD0REQ on 2019-09-22 old explosive materials are typically unstable, aka, look at them and they go boom. if they weren't intrinsically unstable, they would not be commercial explosives. | ||
| KD0REQ | 2019-09-22 | |
|---|---|---|
| particularly old stuff | ||
| old explosive materials are typically unstable, aka, look at them and they go boom. if they weren't intrinsically unstable, they would not be commercial explosives. | ||