OT: Don't mess with my AC

[voice of the theater]

I'm saving up for one of these

Photo Index - The St. Petersburg, FL Equatorial Sundial

[Steve Mac]

Interesting thread... I develop controls for commercial and residential products. I've incorporated a TI chip in the latest platform which reads voltage, current, power factor...and with an independent crystal oscillator am able to determine frequency too. I am in the southeast and its 60hz rock solid. Sometimes 59.9 and sometimes 60.1, but the average is always 60.0HZ. As these new products find themselves regionally it will be intersting to see during field trials whether there is any significant deviance.

[bowtie427ss]

Seems a private outfit called NERC has been handling our grid for a few years, and they proposed the "experiment". Assertions are that we may be wasting big bucks on precision we don't really need.

NERC's #2 man is a long time senior partner with Goldman Sachs, i kinda doubt he joined NERC to take a cut in pay. A brief resume for each of the board of trustees members is posted at NERC's website. Nothing good for consumers will come of this.

[Panomaniac]

I've incorporated a TI chip in the latest platform which reads voltage, current, power factor...and with an independent crystal oscillator am able to determine frequency too.

That's cool! Years ago my dad gave me on of those Kill-a-Watt meters that does much the same thing. I finally killed it. Got to get another, it's super handy. Kill A Watt

[Altec Best]

That's cool! Years ago my dad gave me on of those Kill-a-Watt meters that does much the same thing. I finally killed it. Got to get another, it's super handy. Kill A Watt

Definately a handy tool !

[bfish]

Interesting thread... I develop controls for commercial and residential products. I've incorporated a TI chip in the latest platform which reads voltage, current, power factor...and with an independent crystal oscillator am able to determine frequency too. I am in the southeast and its 60hz rock solid. Sometimes 59.9 and sometimes 60.1, but the average is always 60.0HZ. As these new products find themselves regionally it will be intersting to see during field trials whether there is any significant deviance.

Cool! Now you just need a web app to produce a realtime monitoring site like the UK;

National Grid: Real Time Frequency Data - Last 60 Minutes

Or better yet, one for each region. And what better way to hawk your wares than to offer a free taste targeted at those with an interest in such matters already...

NERC's #2 man is a long time senior partner with Goldman Sachs, i kinda doubt he joined NERC to take a cut in pay. A brief resume for each of the board of trustees members is posted at NERC's website. Nothing good for consumers will come of this.

Amen brother, Don't get me started...[insert sniper smiley].

NERC itself of course is "qualified" as a non-profit... what an oxymoron that is... The man with his hand on North America's main breaker is a powerful man indeed, and deserving of more than casual scrutiny.

Added
OOOh! OOOh! Idea for new movie! Submarine hackers hold the grid for ransom! Call it Brother, can you spare a KW? Or, Disconnect Notice.

Starring Austin Powers as himself, Lindsay Lohan as Rave'n Mad, and MiniMe as the POTUS...

[tomt]

The man with his hand on North America's main breaker is a powerful man indeed,
and deserving of more than casual scrutiny.

quite true.

here would be one of his most notable recent endeavors -

Northeast Blackout of 2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


and the reason was -

http://rense.com/general40/skolmidfkk.htm

[bfish]

..."Regulation of power system frequency for timekeeping accuracy was not commonplace until after 1926 and the invention of the electric clock driven by a synchronous motor...

An interview with Laurens Hammond shortly before his death yeilds some insight into the time and related events. Interesting stuff.;

Chapter XIII - The Electric Clock

[bfish]

I've been studying...

I was surprised to learn that grid loads are balanced by frequency instead of voltage, and that seemingly insignificant frequency variations translate into huge variations in power delivery.

When a new load comes online, it causes a proportional "droop" in grid frequency. This droop in frequency is sensed at the generating equipment, causing steam or water control valves to open, increasing the generator speed to compensate. The fact that a few hundredths of a Hz can equal Megawatt levels of transmission justifies the importance of its' regulation.

So why the Experiment? The equipment is automated and already in place. A conspiracy theorist might propound that there's huge money to be made in power factor manipulation of reactive loads from a utility standpoint since end-user metering and billing are largely based on some assumed power factor.

[mah]

Beware, Bfish, you are venturing toward the Dark Side where economists ignore the laws of physics.

What's wrong with the electric grid? - The Industrial Physicist