Joe-

For the discussion group:

Now this is one I've never seen before. A CATV power unit with a gas line
connected! I'm assuming that there is some sort of engine or thermocouple
device in the cabinet that provides stand-by power to the CATV system.
Perhaps in this area there are extended power outages that require more time
than batteries would provide. Extra funny if you consider that I found this
box almost within walking distance of Hoover Dam, Boulder, NV! Anybody know
what sort of power device is in the cabinet?

Bob

[This message has been edited by Joe Tedesco (edited 11-24-2002).]

Natural gas powered generator set. Used in place of battery banks in areas with unreliable electrical power.
http://www.alpha.com/products/level_3.php?product_id=29&product_market=1

Wouldn't 250-104 (3) x(b) [NEC 1999] apply here. I don't see a ground/bonding clamp.

[This message has been edited by lwinter31 (edited 11-24-2002).]

that is a very good idea, but i see there is no earth bonding between the gas supply andd the CATV cabinate,
also were is the physical protection to the gas meter, surely this is required ???

I believe the yellow bollards are intended for physical protection.

Kohler [and likely others] makes a nice 48VDC 'COM-6' genset series for backup of telecomm ["SLC-96"] subscriber-carrier huts in more remote areas.




[This message has been edited by Bjarney (edited 11-25-2002).]

Georgia Power has these things all over Atlanta, but usually larger. They are called "peakers". On high demand days these kick on to make up the diference to avoid brown outs. I don't see anything here to indicate that this is CATV, but I'll take your word for it. I guess the cable company wants to insure reliability if the power goes out.

Ummm I have a silly question.

If the power goes out, how are you supposed to watch cable television?

its not a silly question, but is a funny one i had quite a chuckle over that one,

but seriously, how are you sopposed to watch TV with a power outage.

The only thing i can suggest is as we knoe the CATV companies will ensure there programs can be watched, why dont we get ourselves some gas gensets for our residences then.

> If the power goes out, how are you supposed to watch cable television?

We can't watch TV but the cable company has two main reason for the genset:

To feed any downstream customers/equipment that do have power.

To keep the temperature right if it is a controlled environment enclosure. Some of the electronics in these units can not withstand extreme cold and heat.

Cable's not just for TV anymore!
I use a cable modem for the computer and if I had a good enough UPS or a laptop computer, I could surf the net or even watch TV on the computer without power.

I used to repair cable TV equipment, so I know the answer to this one. Cable TV operators inject 60Hz AC voltage onto the feeder cables that are on the poles. This voltage is then filtered with 60Hz chokes before being sent into homes. The AC is used to power boosters to keep the cable signal strong as it runs the distance of the wire. A new power source is added every so often - so one AC source isn't supplying the whole town.

Back up sources (batteries or small generators) are added so a local power problems don't kill the signal for the entire town.

This may also be a telecom site, where fiber optic signals are regenerated - yes, that needs to happen too, about every 50 to 100 miles. Cables that span the country need to be boosted to keep the light signal strong.

Hope this helps.

Hi guys, have been reading this forum for a few days and wanted to make a comment on this subject. Here in Louisville, ky the local cable company has just finished installing several thousand of these CATV emgy backup repeaters. Seems like one on every corner and everywhere in subdivisons. The reason they have to do this is they are offering cable tv, broadband and AT&T telephone service over the existing coaxial cable distribution system. With the telephone service now on the same system the FCC required that the customers could not have down time like the exsitng system, due to 911 and emgy calls. I thought we were way behind the times but maybe this is one service that we are a step ahead on.

Andrew

Interesting!

Here in N. NJ, (according to a few Verizon workers) the fiber in the residential areas is to be removed and replaced by...copper

Seems that the fiber is costing too much to maintain, and when the electricity goes out, so does the fiber and thus the telephone service. I would venture a guess that lack of access to DSL is also a big reason (no DSL if your phones are on the fiber diet, at least around here). When this is supposed to happen, I don't know. The fiber was installed about 10 years ago!

If you look closely at a drop wire here, there is a coaxial cable along with the usual telephone cable. That was supposed to be part of the telco-served video-on-demand, etc. Every single house around here had a new demarc box installed on the outside, so that telco access was not an issue. Now the Verizon guys are saying that any new demarcs are going to be indoors as they always were, regular copper drop wire, no coax.

I can't complain too much--NJ has the lowest local phone rates in the USA. (At least that was the case 2 years ago...)

[This message has been edited by ThinkGood (edited 01-31-2003).]

They look like the cble power supplies you see on the utility poles. (Either few poles usually.) Except these are much bigger.
As for the gas line, I'll go with NJWirenut on that one.

Andrew, you are exactly right!

I now have CATV, high speed internet, and my telephone service all supplied by Comcast. In the case of Comcast, they are using batteries for their backup instead of gas. It seems weird to have VoIP (voice over internet protocol) for my phone service.

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Charlie Eldridge, Indianapolis, Utility Power Guy