Most pads have a rough bottom surface to grip the bench top and a smooth upper "working" surface.
You will not be able to measure the resistance with a DMM. These are 'static dissipating' pads, not grounding devices. Their DC resistance is very high - I believe in the range of 10^5 to 10^12 ohms. That allows a controlled discharge while preventing damage that may be caused by a sudden surge should a device carrying a static charge be suddenly grounded. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Phil Hystad Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 11:22 AM To: Elecraft Subject: [Elecraft] Anti-static desk pad... OK, I admit to a degree of embarrassment but I need to ask this question. I have never used an anti-static desk pad for doing component work such as is recommended for building the K3. I do have an anti-static wrist thingy that I have used when I was building a few other kits (e.g. Norcal 40A) but I never used a pad. So, yesterday I went down to my local surplus electronics store (Vetco Electronics in Bellevue, WA, a great place) and bought an anti-static desk pad. OK, which side goes up? There are absolutely no descriptive instructions on this thing and one side is light colored and the other side is dark colored. The little grounding connection is attached in way with a connector on both sides (through the material in the corner) so I cannot easily use that information to deduce the correct use. I am wondering if I can actually measure the resistance which I think is in the 10 Megohm area (I wonder if my Fluke 189 can handle that?). Answers? ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
