Mike, That unit is a wireless utility meter transponder. Once an entire neighborhood is outfitted with the new meters, they can be polled automatically from a central location. It allows the utility to monitor demand and power factor in real time as well as keeping tabs on total consumption. It can also turn the power off or on remotely at individual meters. One of its greatest benefits is that it can instantly report power outages at specific addresses (it contains a backup battery), which greatly aids the utility in pinpointing exactly what transformer, recloser, or cutout fuse is at fault. A power outage at 1:00 AM in a residential neighborhood might not be called in until morning using the conventional metering system, whereas with the polling system, the location and extent of the trouble is immediately known.
73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Mike Morris Sent: Saturday, April 01, 2006 1:38 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Way OT, but a question... Some interesting boxes have been appearing on street lights in my area. Anybody know what they are? <http://www.repeater-builder.com/wa6ilq/whatsthis.html> (two photos totalling about 175KB) Mike WA6ILQ Yahoo! Groups Links Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
