Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Speaker Wire - Dumb Question

It was either the Franks or Turks who started using explosives in sieges... and since fuses back then were "15 seconds give or take 20 seconds"... many a sapper was "hoisted by his own petard".

Bren R.

Getting back on topic, what gauge wire would one use to make a 1000' run between a petard (pile of dynamite) and an electronic detonation device?

A thousand feet, Peter? You really want to make sure that you're not hoist by your own petard. But, to detonate electric blasting caps the lead wire is typically an insulated 20 gauge single strand copper wire. There are a few dynamitophiles who prefer to use silver wire. Although measuring instruments have indicated that there's no difference in the intensity of the blast, they insist that it sounded louder and of higher quality to them, and that years of listening to dynamite has allowed their ears to develop an exquisite sensitivity.

Once again, baiting for JohnK has paid off handsomely! Thanks for that.

Here's a sidenote about "exquisite sensitivity" and blast noise. A long long time ago I was a television camerman. On Remembrance Day we were covering the local ceremonies which included a salute from a 88 howitzer. I thought that it would be a great idea to get a shot of the gun going off from the viewpoint of the bottom of the barrel. I positioned myself at the right side of the gun and aimed upwards so that you could see the length of the barrel and the muzzle in the shot. When the howitzer went off I was hit by a shockwave so intense, that I could actually feel each of my internal organs. For the first, and to this point, only moment of my life, I was aware of exactly where my liver, stomach, and kidneys were positioned. I don't believe that this experience aided my appreciation of music in any way.

So you were close enough to touch the howitzer when it fired? You are one brave man. But I betcha that footage was priceless.

Had a similar experience in Nam. Charlie would figure where our artillery was and find a location that was unreachable from any of those bases; a safe zone, if you will. To offset this, when we'd discover their location, before daylight, we'd move a bunch of mobile 155s (the biggest at the time were 175s I think, so these were no. 2) 10 or 15 miles to the point where we could reach the bad guys. We'd then proceed to give them a wake up call.

I was a sound man on a motion picture crew filming this particular fire mission. There were more than 10, but less than 20, of the 155s. When they opened up, the earth moved, and I couldn't breathe for a few seconds. I don't think it aided my appreciation of music either.

Thanks Jack. Not to glamorize or romanticize it, but I love hearing war stories. One of my teaching mentors was a vet of Iwo Jima and elsewhere. He was full of good stories.

Apologies for being so far O.T.

Mark,

I am a student of WW II history with particular interest in the Pacific theater. I wish I could have talked with your mentor. Anybody who lived through the battle for Iwo Jima, has earned my profound respect. It was a nightmare.

tinman - your story goes a long way towards explaining the hat you are wearing in your Avatar. You should be glad you can still HEAR music, let alone appreciate it.

BigWill - quick story. My Dad was a Master Sgt. in WWII and was on an island called Tinian. I'm watching JAWS with him several years back. We watch the scene where Quint and Richard Dreyfus compare scars and Quint tells about the Indianapolis going down. Dad has never said much WWII up to that point. He casually says, "I remember watching the Indianapolis depart and someone told us later that it sunk."

Long story short, the Indy took Fat Man & Little Boy (Hiroshima & Nagasaki A-bombs) to Tinian. Super top secret, that's why it took so long to go after the survivors. Anyhow, Dad went on to explain that his squad of MPs supervised the unloading of the bombs. I thought that was pretty neat.