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Smart Meters Going To Screw You...


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You might consider this, if you run a solar unit to reduce the electric intake, they can not read the logarithms of individual product useage. here is a short on the meter.. Listen for his romulan cloaking device info.

 

Awesome info! And if you used the Tesla battery they wouldn't have any idea either. 

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then you are protected from an FCC investigation possibly. Lumatek ballasts cause RF interference, for instance. But some don't even know about the potential issue.

 

"The interference problems from one type of system have gotten so bad that the amateur radio association, ARRL, filed a formal federal complaint on behalf of the country's 720,000 licensed ham operators. The problems are worst in Colorado and California, said Sean Kutzko, an ARRL spokesman.

 

The interference is caused by what are known as "ballasts," electronic systems controlling the grow lights. Unless they're properly shielded, the ballasts can throw off a wide range of interference. For ham radio operators in the area, it's like trying to have a conversation during an intense thunderstorm".usatodaycom

 

http://www.interferencetechnology.com/marijuana-growing-lights-interfere-amateur-radio/

http://www.arrl.org/grow-light-rfi

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Awesome info! And if you used the Tesla battery they wouldn't have any idea either. 

 

Thats true Resto, but most have a solar chargin system,I"ve looked into that tesla battery , it still needs solar, or wind.... so the romulan cloaking device is still activated..LOL :)

Edited by Willy
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Thats true Resto, but most have a solar chargin system,I"ve looked into that tesla battery , it still needs solar, or wind.... so the romulan cloaking device is still activated..LOL :)

Why couldn't you charge your Tesla battery up using the power grid and then use the power in your battery covertly however, when ever, and where ever you want to?

 

I'm into solar but the panel life isn't long enough to recover your initial investment. 

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then you are protected from an FCC investigation possibly. Lumatek ballasts cause RF interference, for instance. But some don't even know about the potential issue.

 

"The interference problems from one type of system have gotten so bad that the amateur radio association, ARRL, filed a formal federal complaint on behalf of the country's 720,000 licensed ham operators. The problems are worst in Colorado and California, said Sean Kutzko, an ARRL spokesman.

 

The interference is caused by what are known as "ballasts," electronic systems controlling the grow lights. Unless they're properly shielded, the ballasts can throw off a wide range of interference. For ham radio operators in the area, it's like trying to have a conversation during an intense thunderstorm".usatodaycom

 

http://www.interferencetechnology.com/marijuana-growing-lights-interfere-amateur-radio/

http://www.arrl.org/grow-light-rfi

I have those specific brand ballasts and they do not cause any interference. Like I said, I have a RW detector. The only thing in my home that produces enough even to register is our Dyson vacuum cleaner.

 

There's a lot of bad info out there and the source you are using is bad. I can prove it. 

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Why couldn't you charge your Tesla battery up using the power grid and then use the power in your battery covertly however, when ever, and where ever you want to?

 

I'm into solar but the panel life isn't long enough to recover your initial investment. 

I suppose but for me the issue with tesla is the amount that it stores. 10kwh   a hair dryer uses one. every kw is 1000w you could likely use it to light up rooms, but I think its just best use is to eliminate some of the cost of electric ..the solar is just to capture free storage for the battery.  They do have a bank of 3500. batteries up to 8 i believe. it has some benefits for suire... but for now I think its still a pipe dream.. solar is just an offset at this time... 

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what radiowave detector do you have / would recommend? just curious.

A Gemini IR to RW converter for remote control gadgets that are out of line of sight. It converts and also detects radio waves present. Pretty handy little gadget. Looks like a tiny space ship. Works great. Makes it so I can use a regular remote control to work through walls and long distances. 

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Why couldn't you charge your Tesla battery up using the power grid and then use the power in your battery covertly however, when ever, and where ever you want to?

 

I'm into solar but the panel life isn't long enough to recover your initial investment. 

I've looked into all sorts of alternative energy options and have yet to find one that makes economic sense. 

 

A few years ago, I gutted and remodeled a cabin next to a river.  I rewired the entire house and ran 12 volt wiring to power redundant light fixtures.   I found a fairly inexpensive water turbine and sourced used forklift batteries.  The plan was to use the water turbine to keep the battery charged.  The battery would power the lighting, and any excess electricity generated would get dumped to a heating coil in a 12-volt water heater to be installed in-line with the gas water heater so the water entering the gas water heater would be preheated.  This setup would prevent the need for a switch to prevent backfeed into the grid, since the entire 12 volt system was independent of the main service panel.  I could have put this whole system together for about $2,000, but I decided that the benefit didn't justify the cost. 

 

You can buy a 6.4kwH Tesla battery for about $3,000.  If used simply as a backup, you'd still need to install an AC-DC inverter to charge the battery from the house current.  I'm not 100% sure about this, but you'd probably need a second inverter to power your main panel from the battery.  You'd also need a switch to prevent backfeed to the grid so you don't electrocute a lineworker fixing a power outage. 

 

Or, you could spend about the same amount of money and buy a 12,000 watt natural gas generator with the necessary equipment.

 

Or, you can buy a 6,500 watt gasoline generator to use as-needed for about $600.  At full load, it would cost about $2/hour in gasoline to run.  The benefit there is portability, so if grandma's power goes out, you can shuttle the generator to her place.  For about $100 in electrical equipment, you can install a 220v plug that feeds directly into the main panel.  Of course, you'd have to shut off the main breaker to prevent backfeed.

 

A guy I work with spent about $25,000 to install a solar panel grid that tracks with the sun and includes a battery bank and all necessary inverters and switches.  He financed the cost into his refinancing of a 20-year home mortgage.  He also signed-up for Consumers Energy net metering program.  He figures that with the energy cost savings combined with tax benefits, the system will pay for itself in about 20 years, which is the expected life of the system.  He also figured that he will save about $1,200 in electrical costs for every year that the system lasts past 20 years.

 

In my view, the costs are not justified by the benefit of any of these alternative energy options. 

 

About 20 years ago, I got a lucky score and bought a windmill for $100 from a client of mine who owned an old farm property with the intention of redeveloping the property with a subdivision.  I enlisted the help of a few old farmers in my neighborhood to take the windmill down and then re-install it at my parents-in-laws' place.  I read-up on wind technology and then found out that old windmills, with many wide blades, are designed for low speed but maximum torque...for pumping water, not for generating electricity.  To generate electricity, you need few, thin blades, which develop maximum speed but low torque. 

 

As far as I can tell right now, a person won't realize any economic benefit from solar or wind power without a lot of DIY.

 

Years ago, I read many of the publications written by Hugh Piggot, a Scotsman who learned, after much experimentation, how to build a windmill to generate electricity using an old alternator from a junk car or a DC motor from a treadmill.  If one is geeky about this stuff and can spend many hours working on it, it might make sense.  It's a lot like growing meds.  You kinda have  to have a geeky passion for the activity because your investment in time won't pay-off.  Your time is worth less than minimum wage.

 

https://www.scoraigwind.com/pirate%20oldies/Hugh%20Piggott%20Axial-flow%20PMG%20wind%20turbine%20May%202003.pdf

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Totally agree with all of that. Most of the ideas don't save you any money, with one exception about the solar power:

 

I built a solar panel grid on my house that is just a large flat box, about 250 square feet. It has clear panels on the front and a black surface in the back. The sun heats up the back and the air inside the box gets warm. I have a thermostat that turns on a forced air fan and circulates warm air into the main living area in my house. When the sun is out strong I have free heat in that area. I built it in the 80's and have not had to work on it once since. It's totally awesome and it paid for itself in a couple years.  

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I have those specific brand ballasts and they do not cause any interference. Like I said, I have a RW detector. The only thing in my home that produces enough even to register is our Dyson vacuum cleaner.

 

There's a lot of bad info out there and the source you are using is bad. I can prove it. 

 

I don't know much about radio interference caused by ballasts for high intensity lights.  But what I do know is that HID lights are still used in factories and warehouses all over Michigan - both metal halide and high pressure sodium.  There is no difference in the ballasts used for industrial applications vs, growing meds.  I have been in many industrial buildings in Michigan where HID lighting is still used....upwards of 100 light fixtures in a 20,000 square foot building.  (100 lights on a half-acre, which is waaay more than any average grow room) Granted, many shops are now replacing HIDs with T5 lights.  But 20-30 years ago, any industrial building (and there were many) in southeast Michigan used HID lights (metal halide and/or high pressure sodium).  Ham radio operators have been around for a long time, way before almost anyone grew meds indoors.  So why the sudden problem? 

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I don't know much about radio interference caused by ballasts for high intensity lights.  But what I do know is that HID lights are still used in factories and warehouses all over Michigan - both metal halide and high pressure sodium.  There is no difference in the ballasts used for industrial applications vs, growing meds.  I have been in many industrial buildings in Michigan where HID lighting is still used....upwards of 100 light fixtures in a 20,000 square foot building.  (100 lights on a half-acre, which is waaay more than any average grow room) Granted, many shops are now replacing HIDs with T5 lights.  But 20-30 years ago, any industrial building (and there were many) in southeast Michigan used HID lights (metal halide and/or high pressure sodium).  Ham radio operators have been around for a long time, way before almost anyone grew meds indoors.  So why the sudden problem? 

It's likely that some activism of some sort has gotten some radio operators to lie for the greater good of what they are being activists for. Then someone totally clueless takes that ball and runs with it. I see that they have even pointed a finger at a specific manufacturer. When you understand it's a lie you know that one was a grab at market share. There are all kinds of motivations for bad info to get out there. It's nice to have the ability to test and know they are lying. Then you can work backwards to motivations. 

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Totally agree with all of that. Most of the ideas don't save you any money, with one exception about the solar power:

 

I built a solar panel grid on my house that is just a large flat box, about 250 square feet. It has clear panels on the front and a black surface in the back. The sun heats up the back and the air inside the box gets warm. I have a thermostat that turns on a forced air fan and circulates warm air into the main living area in my house. When the sun is out strong I have free heat in that area. I built it in the 80's and have not had to work on it once since. It's totally awesome and it paid for itself in a couple years.  

 

That's exactly right, and you nailed it.  Converting solar or wind energy to electricity is expensive due to the necessary equipment.  Using solar energy to generate heat is easy.  My dad was a construction contractor.  In the 80s he worked on several ideas and pursued patents.  He DIY'ed a system that was probably similar to what you built...copper tubing, painted black, and sandwiched between glass panels.  

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It's likely that some activism of some sort has gotten some radio operators to lie for the greater good of what they are being activists for. Then someone totally clueless takes that ball and runs with it. I see that they have even pointed a finger at a specific manufacturer. When you understand it's a lie you know that one was a grab at market share. There are all kinds of motivations for bad info to get out there. It's nice to have the ability to test and know they are lying. Then you can work backwards to motivations. 

 

Bingo!   I've learned a lot about communication while participating on this forum.  One thing that continues to ring-true to me is the notion of looking at the current state of things and then work backwards from there. 

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I don't know much about radio interference caused by ballasts for high intensity lights.  But what I do know is that HID lights are still used in factories and warehouses all over Michigan - both metal halide and high pressure sodium.  There is no difference in the ballasts used for industrial applications vs, growing meds.  I have been in many industrial buildings in Michigan where HID lighting is still used....upwards of 100 light fixtures in a 20,000 square foot building.  (100 lights on a half-acre, which is waaay more than any average grow room) Granted, many shops are now replacing HIDs with T5 lights.  But 20-30 years ago, any industrial building (and there were many) in southeast Michigan used HID lights (metal halide and/or high pressure sodium).  Ham radio operators have been around for a long time, way before almost anyone grew meds indoors.  So why the sudden problem?

proper insulation could be one difference between a grow store ballast and a name brand industrial lighting fixture ?

I run Lumateks too, some, and don't give a phluck really. But I saw some snippet on television from another state that mentioned

the issue. I gave it no thought till just now

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proper insulation could be one difference between a grow store ballast and a name brand industrial lighting fixture ?

I run Lumateks too, some, and don't give a phluck really. But I saw some snippet on television from another state that mentioned

the issue. I gave it no thought till just now

I've had a dozen Lumateks ballasts and none emit enough radio waves to even register on the meter. Glad I could set some minds at ease. What else could they be lying about?

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proper insulation could be one difference between a grow store ballast and a name brand industrial lighting fixture ?

I run Lumateks too, some, and don't give a phluck really. But I saw some snippet on television from another state that mentioned

the issue. I gave it no thought till just now

 

I have seen many HID lights used in an industrial setting.  I've never seen any insulation on a ballast.  In fact, insulation of a ballast is a bad idea, because ballasts generate a lot of heat that needs to be dissipated.

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I have those specific brand ballasts and they do not cause any interference. Like I said, I have a RW detector. The only thing in my home that produces enough even to register is our Dyson vacuum cleaner.

 

There's a lot of bad info out there and the source you are using is bad. I can prove it.

maybe some lumateks cause interference and some don't? I dunno, no dogs in that race. but here some others

 

http://www.rollitup.org/t/anyone-using-lumatek-ballasts-needs-to-read-this.819045/

 

"In a statement, FCC spokeswoman Kim Hart said she couldn't address the specific complaint filed by AARL, but said the FCC is aware of the problems caused by certain grow lights."

 

"One of my colleagues, Kit Haskins, alerted me to the following article: “How cops are catching grow ops with AM radios”. As a long-time EMI engineer, the headline certainly caught my eye. The article was posted by Keith Graves on his blog (PoliceOne.com) in February, 2014. Graves is a police sergeant in the San Francisco area and he described how police were starting to use AM radios in their vehicles to locate illegal indoor marijuana “farms”. These “grow ops” are using arrays of large 1000W high pressure sodium or metal halide lamps, driven by electronic ballasts. Most of these ballasts are imported from China and the manufacturers of these have apparently made no attempt at complying with FCC emission standards. Consequently, they produce large amounts of radio frequency interference (RFI). This RFI has become a major nuisance to local radio amateurs and and other users of the radio spectrum, as it can completely obliterate communications. In the meantime, the article has “gone viral” among the police community. While they realize not every source of RFI is a grow op, they do use the technique as “one of their tools”.

 

Related to the article above, in September 2014, I visited the headquarters of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) in Newington, CT, where I had a chance to meet with their lead RFI investigator, Mike Gruber. Gruber was well aware of the issue to amateur radio operators and shared the ARRL’s formal complaint to the FCC, dated March, 2014. Prior to their complaint, Gruber also conducted extensive testing on three of these electronic ballasts and the conducted emission data clearly shows peaks as high as 100+ dBuV (50 dB over the limit) in the range 6 to 8 MHz, with lower peaks at 14, 18, and 21 MHz. There are also high peaks covering the AM broadcast band, and that’s where the police tune their radios in order to detect the use of these ballasts. The interference from these sources has been received as far away as 2,500 feet, nearly half a mile."http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/the-emc-blog/4438864/How-cops-are-finding--grow-ops--with-AM-radios

 

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/blocking-rf-noise-from-digital-ballasts.13090/

more lumatek https://forum.grasscity.com/threads/be-careful-of-new-digital-ballasts.1163564/

 

they all prolly liars, though its interesting reading, bunch of Lumatek haters :P(tongue out, implying sarcasm, intended)

 

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Electrical Insulators

Types of insulators and history

 

Insulators are used in all electrical devices from tiny capacitors to giant generators. Engineers need to understand how to design devices with the proper insulator. Unfortunately insulator failure is a primary reason why electrical devices stop working.

1.) Basics

2.) List of Common Insulating Materials

3.) Insulating electric wires

3.a) Guide to wire insulation

4.) High Voltage "Insulators"

4.a) Wood and Glass

4.b) Ceramic

5.) Timeline

5.a) List of manufacturers and innovators

6.) Comments on insulation from R. DeLair

 

Thomas Edison and Charles Steinmetz inspect damaged insulators after testing

 

 

Basics

What is resistance and conductivity?

Three major categories of materials include conductors, semiconductors and insulators. Insulators have a high resistance, we can also describe them as having "low electrical conduction". Conductivity: Most metals are conductive, which means that electrons can freely flow to different atoms in a given direction. Metals have loosely bound, or free electrons which allow this to happen. Insulative materials on the other hand have tightly bound valence electrons. Understanding conductivity at an atomic level requires some basic understanding of chemistry.

More on electrical current flow (wiki) >

 

Insulators come in solid, liquid and gas forms. See the more detailed list in the next section for examples.

 

 

Dielectrics - these are materials that are do not allow electricity to flow through them (are insulators) however in the presence of an electrical field the material becomes polarized. This phenomena is useful in electronics. For example we use dielectric materials in the middle of capacitors because it acts as insulator, blocking DC current flow, but the changing polarity allows energy to pass through. We use the measurement of Electric Susceptibility to understand how easy it is for a given dielectric to polarize. You can learn more about dielectrics on the wiki page here.

 

 

 

 

2.) List of Common Insulating Materials

 

Solids

 

Clay (ceramic)(porcelain) - This is the standard material for high voltage and RF insulators.

Plastics - PVC, Cresyl Pthalate, DEHP and other plastics replaced rubber as an insulator for wires and other parts. PVC and nylon are now standard in most types of wire.

Glass (silica, soda ash and limestone) - This material worked fine for telegraph and other low voltage apparatus. It is still used today to some degree.

Paper/Cardboard - paper and cardboard are used as insulators in certain circumstances as these materials are cheap and can work in situations without high heat or high voltages.

Mica - This is a good stable material even when exposed to the elements. It is a good thermal conductor while being an insulator. Sheet mica is easily stamped and shaped for electrical components. Mica is very important for the most common types of capacitors.

Teflon (PTFE) - (polytetrafluoroethylene) - Slippery, durable and resistant to corrosion this Dupont made material is used in cable jackets. Other forms besides PTFE include FEP and ETFE.

PFA (Perfluoroalkoxy) - This substance is resistant to chemical attack, transparent and better than PTFE when it comes to flexibility. The weakness is that the number of times it can be folded is less than PTFE. It is good for applications near the ocean as it is resistant to salt spray. The dielectric strength of PFA is up to 4 times higher than PTFE.

Rubber - Rubber in its natural and synthetic forms was used as an insulator from before the 1870s until the 1950s. Plastics (especially PVC) replaced rubber.

Wax and oil - in the 1880s Edison used trinidad asphaltum with linseed oil, beeswax and paraffin to insulate copper wires mounted inside of iron pipes. This was used for durable underground power lines. This was used at the famous Pearl Street Station in NYC.

 

 

 

for instance

from http://www.edisontechcenter.org/Insulation.html

 

Gasses

Normally when you separate two high voltage conductors an arc forms in between in open air. In the utility industry we use special non-conductive gas in a compact encapsulated metal container to stop arcs from forming. Gas-insulated switchgear is designed to disconnect very high voltages safely. There are gas insulated transformers as well as other devices.

 

Liquids

Insulating Oil (Transformer Oil) - This petroleum product is used as an electrical insulator and thermal conductor. It conducts heat away from hot transformer coils. Some capacitors also use insulator oil.

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