Question at ==== line:

http://www.squidoo.com/small-led-light-surge-protector

Small LED Light As Indicator In A Surge Protector
However, the most beneficial advancement of late is that small LED
bulbs are now utilized as indicator lights in the device that protects
equipment from power surges, the surge protector. Surges, otherwise
called voltage spikes or transient surges, are abrupt increases in
household voltage what happen when high-energy appliances or computers
are powered on. Such surges can take place in excess of 2,000 times
per year in homes, slowly destroying the components of a home

===== Is this sentence true. Many times a year? And more
importantly, *slowly* destroying. Not ruined or "no damage"?

computer, a cell phone, and other fragile electronic equipment. Other
home appliances, furnaces, air conditioners, washers, dryers, and the
like, are also know to create surges which travel back through the
main breaker panel and out again through the home wiring.

mm wrote:
Question at ==== line:

http://www.squidoo.com/small-led-light-surge-protector

Small LED Light As Indicator In A Surge Protector
However, the most beneficial advancement of late is that small LED
bulbs are now utilized as indicator lights in the device that protects
equipment from power surges, the surge protector. Surges, otherwise
called voltage spikes or transient surges, are abrupt increases in
household voltage what happen when high-energy appliances or computers
are powered on. Such surges can take place in excess of 2,000 times
per year in homes, slowly destroying the components of a home

===== Is this sentence true. Many times a year? And more
importantly, *slowly* destroying. Not ruined or "no damage"?

Many times a year - sure. How big a surge counts? Do they count surges
that can do no damage? Yes.

Slowly deteriorating? Can happen. Mostly hype.

Manufacturers don't publish specs, but equipment is likely to have a
surge immunity of about 600 or 800V.


computer, a cell phone, and other fragile electronic equipment. Other
home appliances, furnaces, air conditioners, washers, dryers, and the
like, are also know to create surges which travel back through the
main breaker panel and out again through the home wiring.

Some devices, like motors when shut off, can create surges. Not likely
to damage anything. More hype.

Surges damage cell phones? I would ignore anything this source says.

An excellent source of information on surges for the general public is:
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/practiceguides/surgesfnl.pdf

For the more technically inclined a better source from the IEEE is:
http://www.mikeholt.com/files/PDF/LightningGuide_FINALpublishedversion_May051.pdf

--
bud--

"bud--"

Surges damage cell phones? I would ignore anything this source says.

** Nor would I.

Just a few days ago I took the opportunity to break open a Nokia cell phone
charger - the only thing that MIGHT be damaged by voltage spikes on the AC
supply.

The incoming AC connects first to a 10 ohm fusible resistor, then a 4 x
1N4007 diode bridge then a 4.7uf 400V filter electro. Very simple and very
robust.

Any surge on the AC that killed the Nokia would take out all the CFLs and
many other things too.



..... Phil

On Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:37:59 -0500, mm
wrote:

Question at ==== line:

http://www.squidoo.com/small-led-light-surge-protector

Small LED Light As Indicator In A Surge Protector

Cute. Too bad the article doesn't say what the LED actually does.
Offhand, I would say that the cute form factor of the electrical
octopus is the major selling point.

However, the most beneficial advancement of late is that small LED
bulbs are now utilized as indicator lights in the device that protects
equipment from power surges, the surge protector.

Really? Surge protectors work by absorbing energy (Joules) that would
normally do some damage if that energy arrived at the protected
electronics. A good MOV protector will absorb about 1000 Joules. An
LED can hardly absorb perhaps 1 Joule. If you decode the muddled
intent of the article, the LED light probably just lights when there
has been a surge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varistor

Surges, otherwise
called voltage spikes or transient surges, are abrupt increases in
household voltage what happen when high-energy appliances or computers
are powered on.

Ok, they got that right.

Such surges can take place in excess of 2,000 times
per year in homes, slowly destroying the components of a home.

I have a power line monitor and recorder at several mountain top radio
sites. It monitors surges, glitches, sags, over voltage, and other
power line impairments. On a typical day, it records about 10 alarms,
most of which are surges. During a storm, I'll see hundreds each day.
Most of them are harmless and will never go through a transformer or
get past even the most crude protection circuits. However, about once
a week, I see an event that has the potential for doing real damage.
http://www.enetics.com/app-PQM.html
(It's not this one but something similar).

===== Is this sentence true. Many times a year? And more
importantly, *slowly* destroying. Not ruined or "no damage"?

Nope, it's not true. Glitches do not erode or promote progressive
deterioration in electronic devices. Glitches break down
semiconductor junctions, which kills the transistor(s). It's the same
as getting hit by a static blast or lightning bolt. Once zapped, it's
totally ruined.

There are some obscure failure modes where static and power line
glitches cause a form of progressive deterioration by increasing
device leakage current, but that's rare and unusual.

computer, a cell phone, and other fragile electronic equipment. Other
home appliances, furnaces, air conditioners, washers, dryers, and the
like, are also know to create surges which travel back through the
main breaker panel and out again through the home wiring.

Amazing. Yes, back EMF glitches are theoretically possible from these
devices. However, all of the appliances already contain surge
protectors that protect in both directions (going in, and coming out).
With AC motors, such glitches are unlikely. The various regulatory
agencies would not issue a sticker if the appliance dumped power back
into the AC line. It is possible with large DC motors, such as the
starter motor in your vehicle, but the typical AC motor will only
create a voltage sag (decrease), usually caused by faulty or
overloaded wiring. Voltage swell (increase) is unlikely.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

mm wrote in
:

Question at ==== line:

http://www.squidoo.com/small-led-light-surge-protector

Small LED Light As Indicator In A Surge Protector
However, the most beneficial advancement of late is that small LED
bulbs are now utilized as indicator lights in the device that protects
equipment from power surges, the surge protector. Surges, otherwise
called voltage spikes or transient surges, are abrupt increases in
household voltage what happen when high-energy appliances or computers
are powered on. Such surges can take place in excess of 2,000 times
per year in homes, slowly destroying the components of a home

===== Is this sentence true. Many times a year? And more
importantly, *slowly* destroying. Not ruined or "no damage"?

computer, a cell phone, and other fragile electronic equipment. Other
home appliances, furnaces, air conditioners, washers, dryers, and the
like, are also know to create surges which travel back through the
main breaker panel and out again through the home wiring.


Anything with a modern switching power supply is immune from anything the
power company "surges", usually caused by loose neutral connections
causing an unbalanced phase voltage, can cause. Switchers are rated from
around 80VAC to 270VAC (not cast in stone) and will simply absorb any
voltage changes as the input of these supplies is just a big rectifier
with big storage capacitors to feed DC to the switching regulators.
Surges are turned into output power, nicely leveled by the fast
switcher's reaction time. Your computer power supply is one of them.

What's FAR more important than a "surge protector" it doesn't need is a
UPS to hold up the AC line voltage on brownouts and interruptions that
just love to occur during those all-important disk write
operations....leaving the disk trashed with half a FAT updated and half a
FAT not. That's better than a good hacker can ever achieve trying to
trash a system!

"Phil Allison" wrote in
:


"bud--"

Surges damage cell phones? I would ignore anything this source says.

** Nor would I.

Just a few days ago I took the opportunity to break open a Nokia cell
phone charger - the only thing that MIGHT be damaged by voltage spikes
on the AC supply.

The incoming AC connects first to a 10 ohm fusible resistor, then a 4
x 1N4007 diode bridge then a 4.7uf 400V filter electro. Very simple
and very robust.

Any surge on the AC that killed the Nokia would take out all the CFLs
and many other things too.



.... Phil











Yep, that supply will eat any surges caused by loose line connections,
switching motors on and off, etc......for lunch, convert it to a
regulated DC output and feed it to the phone as if nothing happened.

I don't buy any wall warts that aren't switchers any more.....even to
charge the wine cork puller.

On Jan 31, 2:53*pm, Fred wrote:
"Phil Allison" wrote :







"bud--"

Surges damage cell phones? I would ignore anything this source says.

** Nor would I.

Just a few days ago I took the opportunity to break open a Nokia cell
phone charger - the only thing that MIGHT be damaged by voltage spikes
on the AC supply.

The incoming AC connects first to a 10 ohm fusible resistor, then a 4
x 1N4007 diode bridge then a 4.7uf 400V filter electro. Very simple
and very robust.

Any surge on the AC that killed the Nokia would take out all the CFLs
and many other things too.

.... *Phil

Yep, that supply will eat any surges caused by loose line connections,
switching motors on and off, etc......for lunch, convert it to a
regulated DC output and feed it to the phone as if nothing happened.

I don't buy any wall warts that aren't switchers any more.....even to
charge the wine cork puller.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -



Switching wall warts are notorius for extremely high RFI.

You can use them as long as you never want to use an AM radio at the
same time.

...

..

sparky wrote in news:ae98d763-38da-4ad9-9c7a-
:

You can use them as long as you never want to use an AM radio at the
same time.



Not a problem as there's nothing on AM radio to listen to any more.....

http://www.radiosure.com/
http://www.shoutcast.com/
http://last.fm/

Who needs AM radio??

On Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:58:51 +0000, Fred wrote:

sparky wrote in news:ae98d763-38da-4ad9-9c7a-
:

You can use them as long as you never want to use an AM radio at the
same time.

Not always a problem I'm sure.

Not a problem as there's nothing on AM radio to listen to any more.....

That's for sure. What a shame. And now, even if there were something
interesting, I'm no longer used to the endless commercials.

http://www.radiosure.com/
http://www.shoutcast.com/
http://last.fm/

http://player.radio.com/player/AOLPlayer.php

Who needs AM radio??

Thanks for the list.

Also, AOL radio, to which I'm listening now:
http://player.radio.com/player/AOLPlayer.php
Maybe one or two commercial minutes an hour, perhaps dependent on time
of day. I wonder if that will increase.

About 50 or 100 genres iirc, many stations in each one, thousands
altogether. It remembers which station you were listening to plus you
can set others as clickable presets. Music, news, Sports, Favorites.

What I don't understand: If I put it on pause for 20 minutes, it
starts up again right where it left off, in the middle of a song. It
continues wihtout a jerk, and I don't think it's playing just what was
in my my buffer. Also, when I first start it, it always begins at the
start of a song. Plus I don't use it, but it has the ability to skip
a song or more. It's as if I have my own personal stream, instead of
just listneing to what it sends everyone else who is on that channel.

How can that be? Doesn't this take many times more processes
running and more cpu's to run them all? And many times more RAM for
many times more output buffers?

And why bother? Wouldn't it be simpler and cheaper and just as good
to play one thing for each of the thousands of stations/channels, and
let everyone on that station listen to it?


I bought 2 pairs of very old stock RCA wireless speakers. One each in
my bedroom, kitchen, basement, and bathroom. I don't care much about
stereo. I don't see RCA anymore, but Best Buy has something for 100
dollars a pair. A lot more than mine were at full price, but if I
didn't have these, I'd buy them.

On Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:58:51 +0000, Fred wrote:

sparky wrote in news:ae98d763-38da-4ad9-9c7a-
:

You can use them as long as you never want to use an AM radio at the
same time.



Not a problem as there's nothing on AM radio to listen to any more.....

http://www.radiosure.com/
http://www.shoutcast.com/
http://last.fm/

I notice that radiosure has to be downloaded. Do radiossure or
shoutcast have any drawbacks, like requiring a tool bar or anything?

Who needs AM radio??

BTW, NPR in Dallas had programming made in California, or somewhere
west of texas that I never hear from in Baltimore or DC. I think
there may be quite a bit on western public radio that isn't on in the
east. I keep planning to listen via the web but never remmeber.

Please, everyone, let me know if this turns out to be true.

mm wrote in
:

What I don't understand: If I put it on pause for 20 minutes, it
starts up again right where it left off, in the middle of a song. It
continues wihtout a jerk, and I don't think it's playing just what was
in my my buffer. Also, when I first start it, it always begins at the
start of a song. Plus I don't use it, but it has the ability to skip
a song or more. It's as if I have my own personal stream, instead of
just listneing to what it sends everyone else who is on that channel.

How can that be? Doesn't this take many times more processes
running and more cpu's to run them all? And many times more RAM for
many times more output buffers?



It's a server, not a live station.

Give this one a try:
http://www.radiosure.com/
Download/install for Windows (only I think)
It's safe....no spyware, adware, crapware.

Stations found: 17664 on the webpage list tonight.
You can probably find something to listen to without the damned car ads
on US AM stations. They never learn.....too bad. I miss real AM on my
1939 Motorola "D" 4-tube portable. At night, it's big loopstick picks up
Cuba and Central America on AM. Every part in it, except batteries no
longer available is ORIGINAL! Its only fault was the glue holding the
4" speaker cone in place disintegrated. I fixed the speaker and added a
mini stereo cable to the voicecoil using two 5 ohm resistors, one to each
channel so both channels will play through the radio's original speakers.

The screws in the back had holed the cardboard back so I added two
cabinet magnet latches to get inside and keep the flat loop in place when
it was carried. A friend with a leather shop made me a new handle.

An old Archos Studio 20 hard drive MP3 player was resurrected and filled
with OTR and 1930-40 big band music. With the radio actually off, a
little IC amp board from an old Radio Shack computer speaker powers the
speaker from some nimh cells in a holder. Plug that amp into the MP3
player and slide it in over the homemade battery packs that really power
the radio on AM and the radio plays the same AM stations it did in 1939,
not the noise and hate on AM radio today.

Set on any diner booth table, it attracts lots of fans who want to hear
The Green Hornet or Amos N Andy or the 1930's recordings of the World
Series baseball games.....like would have been on a diner radio before
WW2.

HI HO SILVER, AWAY!

mm wrote in
news
I notice that radiosure has to be downloaded. Do radiossure or
shoutcast have any drawbacks, like requiring a tool bar or anything?


Shoutcast is commercial but you can listen to anything on it with your
fav media player like Winamp. There are pointers to the M3U playlist for
each station that outputs MP3 or other formats. I think AOL/Winamp owns
Shoutcast.

The Linux boys have a great, open source of course, radio system you
might want to listen to called Icecast.
http://icecast.org/
The software on the site is SERVER software for Linux and Windows so you
can become one of their radio stations and get sued by the RIAA money
mongers. They'll just want their license fees when they catch you....or
else. Click on STREAM DIRECTORY to get to the station list. Again, any
player that supports M3U or XSPF playlist streaming can connect directly
to the servers across the planet. Icecast has:
Statistics

* Total streams: 7274
* Ogg Vorbis: 269
* MP3: 6677

on it tonight. Totally open source supported, like any good Linux group.
All free to anyone who cares to connect. Many national radio stations,
like Radio Swiss, use Icecast for free distribution so there's some
really great professional sources across the planet to listen to without
being trashed by spam, spyware and hounded to death to buy something.
Spamming is not allowed on Icecast...jealously protected by a dedicated
group of hackers.

Radiosure has no load. I've never seen it do anything in all the time
I've used it. It's not a commercial venture....just a bunch of radio
lovers and hackers.

My nighttime station is classic country and western from KSEY in Seymour,
Texas. If you're gonna listen to cowboy music, you need to be in cowboy
country. The local ads with that Texas drawl are great. At night KSEY
plays a syndicated classic country feed called "Legend Radio", very well
done, the old network way! They're playing "Just Another Bridge To
Burn" as I'm typing this. The former pirate radio kid from high school
inherited it from his mother, still a true family radio station. His
picture of his pirate station is on the webpage...(c;] KSEY also has a
repeater in KS. His server supports 4 different protocols. The low-res
24Kbps mono MP3 feed sounds just like AM without the static, of course,
which goes along with the historic music being played. "I Got Texas In
My Soul" is on now. He bills the station as "Anything you'd hear from a
honky tonk jukebox"...and it's very close!

Teens from the high school take control of the console after school in
the afternoon and he trains his continuing replacement operators from the
high school. The kids also do the high school basketball and football
games with LIVE narration just like they did when I was a kid. KSEY is a
great little station in N central Texas town of Seymour, where you can
still get lunch at the old folks home, CHEAP!...(c;]

http://www.radioksey.com/