Shocking!

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I had built an amp with a 60hz notch filter to try and measure my brainwaves. I wired up two copper pennies as probes and used a mixture of Jergens and salt as a conducting medium. I was using an AC power supply with a 15vdc output to drive the op-amps. I had a meter, an led, and a speaker connected to the output (I did not have an oscilloscope).

I plugged the wires from my temples into the op-amp inputs. At first all I heard was a very low 60hz buzz which I thought was coming from the speaker, but I also thought it strange I was not seeing anything on the led or meter.

"Damn, I thought I had that pesky 60hz filtered out. Oh well," I thought, "Perhaps a better contact between those pennies and my temples would help." So I pushed lightly on my temples. What happened next was really scary. I "heard" 60Hz coming from all directions, and "saw" brilliant blue flashes superimposed over my bedroom, and felt a slight tingling in my temples. I jumped up while ripping out the pennies with wires attached and sat there for about 30 minutes trying to see if I had any holes in my memory, or if I had lost any of my faculties.

After I had recovered, I examined the circuit and discovered that I had miswired it. Instead of connecting the pennies to the input, I had connected them across the power supply! The 60hz component was probably caused by the low impedance of my salted skull loading down the power supply.

Shocking!

I take no responsibilities for anything resulting from someone else trying any of my stories, they are highly dangerous, and I'm lucky to be alive. i.e. they can KILL YOU, you have been warned.

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