DIYbanter - View Single Post - Buying lectrickery in the U.S.

Geoffrey S. Mendelson

hr(bob) wrote:

Where I live now in suburban Chicago - Naperville, we are getting
smart meters. But there is a group of about 10% of the residents who
are opposed to the meters. Either they fear the radiation from the
meters - electrophobia - or they don't want the government to know
they are using many kilowatts of power at 3 am for their marijuana
plants grow lamps in their basementsg.

I have a friend who is an expert in BPL (broadband over power lines) and he
says that while it works, it's no longer viable as a business selling
internet access because in the real world it could never produce the speeds
that people want and get from other methods.

HOWEVER it works fine for "smart" meters, and the bandwidth they need is
so low it does not interfere with radios.

My guess is that the people running large grow lights in their basement are
more upset that they can't turn the meters upside down and have them run
backwards or bypass the meter than anything else.

It's an old trick that works on old meters, and in some places the meter
readers did not look very carefully at the seals to see they had been broken
and put back.

Since no one actually has to stand in front of the meters to read them now,
they can be placed where it is difficult or almost impossible to tamper
with them. :-)

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM/KBUH7245/KBUW5379
To put it in terms everyone understands, the US debt is over 150 Facebooks.