"George" wrote in message
...
On 11/6/2012 12:01 PM, micky wrote:
On Mon, 5 Nov 2012 17:11:53 -0500, "tm"
wrote:
"Tim Schwartz" wrote in message
...
On 11/3/2012 1:03 AM, micky wrote:
On Fri, 2 Nov 2012 21:14:33 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:
I spoke to someone from Verizon this morning who said that their plan
is
to start removing copper and transition everyone over to fiber. Thus
ensuring that in the event of a disaster nobody has phone service
after
a few hours. I asked about a [bigger backup battery for the FIOS
phone]
and was told that the charger they use isn't powerful enough for it.
How can the charger not be powerful enough. It has weeks or months
to charge the battery, however long it is between power failures.
I had a 2nd-hand UPS and the battery wore out, and I replaced it with
a bigger one and it worked fine. I just broke out the plastic ribs
that held the smaller one in place. Of course they didnt'
specifically say a bigger battery wouldn't work, but how would the guy
you talked to know? He only "knows" what they told him.
They call this progress.
By the way, when they install fios they take away the copper wire so
you
can never go back to it.
I called about something and she started pushing me, over and over,
to get FIOS. I said I couldn't afford it but she said it was cheaper.
I'm still on an introductory rate for DSL and FIOS would be more, not
less.
Well,
A FIOS backup battery, at least the one in my panel, is a 12 volt gel
cell rated at 7.2 amp hours, which provides 'UP TO' 8 hours of backup.
Remember, 2 hours is a subset of UP TO 8 hours. During this event, I
got
about 9 hours out of the battery.
Anyway, I'm sure the charge could handle a bit bigger battery, say 10
AH,
but to hook up a car battery to it would be asking a bit much of the
charger. On the other hand, when power is out those with some
knowledge
can add in more battery to run the panel while power is out. I do
this,
and I disconnect my external battery when I'm not at home, since there
is
no reason to run the panel when it will go to the answering system
anyway.
Lastly, keep in mind that the backup is ONLY for phone, Video and
internet
goes away when the AC power is lost, at least on my panel.
Regards,
Tim
Bristol Electronics
What about the rest of their network? Will it hold up for more than 8
hours?
Wouldn't that depend on where all the power outages are? Are there
amplifers or whatever between the central station and one's home, that
require power, and might not have any?
Are there back-up generators at Bell and Verizon telephone exchanges?
Wired phones run on batteries at the central station with generators
to keep the batteries charged, but what about FIOS phone and Fios
Internet?
You are talking about days of old. Less than 40% of the population has
wired phones and phone companies see the handwriting on the wall. Many
such as Verizon sold off a bunch of those systems (Verizon sold off 13
states) to companies that will run what remains on a shoestring budget.
Stuff that they do retain will never again see the TLC of old.
That's right and one of the things that has changed now is moving the
batteries that ran the wired telephone system from the central station to
the user's property. There's no reason to be content with limited battery
time or even in-house batteries though. The batteries could easily be set
up to charge with a solar cell and the battery could also be put into the
cabinet that services the neighborhood - also with a solar panel to charge
it. FIOS and U-Verse should be pushed to do that.
Tomsic