On 27/06/2012 18:57, David WE Roberts wrote:
Just had a power outage for a couple of minutes.
It came back on before I got bored enough to demonstrate my independance
from the National Grid (short term) by tethering my laptop to my mobile
for Internet access.
However I would like to know what caused it and if it is likely to
happen again before I power up the desktop.
Location is coastal Suffolk.

Is there any online resource which carries immediate reports of power
outages and causes?

Nothing obvious going on to explain this one - no thunder storms and the
like.

In rural areas fed by overhead cables there are numerous minor
interruptions everyday. Many are not even noticed by the consumer and
are dealt with by automatic control. The only way to avoid these
glitches is to have your equipment connected via a UPS. This will not
only deal with the actual cuts of short duration, but also voltage
fluctuations.


Peter Crosland

In article o.uk, Dave
Liquorice scribeth thus
On Mon, 2 Jul 2012 15:07:48 +0100, tony sayer wrote:

I don't think any of the other utilties gas electricty or water ever
hada universal service obligation. I don't know if BT still do but it
was only ever for voice anyway if you wanted it for a modem or these
days ADSL if the line worked for voice that was then end of it unless
you paid lots of money...

Well BT have quoted a firm we know of several 10's of £K for putting in
a couple of lines. There're not going to spend a fortune on running
cable several miles for a very small return on the capital cost outlay
anymore..

A firm, so business lines? and note the plural. Assuming the universal
service applies to business lines (and it might not)

Well it seems it does not else they wouldn't be charging such a lot to
have a line. I think that BT these days Dave, looks at this on a
commercial ROI basis. I used to know someone at BT to ask but they were
almost taken away but some boys in white coasts after working there..


then they could
probably get a single residental voice line for the fixed fee but the
other lines would be "at cost".

I think they tried that and quite a few other "cunning attempts" none of
which were successful..

So that comes to radio comms. There are Three / Four networks and are
they likely to be all down at once?.

When the single power feed to the colocated base stations goes yes.

Is there just the one around there?...

Single cell site, hosts the four networks, single mains feed to said
site. There are a couple of other single network cells, one of which is
in a neighbouring valley so can't "see" it, this is the one that was down
for several weeks.

Have you had a go at the mobile firms concerned or better still your
MP?..

IIRC you can make emergency calls from a handset with no SIM in it..

I believe so as well but not tried it either for obvious reasons. But I
can't call the DNO to find out when the power mightebe back without a
valid SIM, assuming that the local cell has power...

Haven't you got your own gas turbine set yet;?...


--
Cheers
Dave.




--
Tony Sayer

On Tue, 3 Jul 2012 11:50:13 +0100, tony sayer wrote:

Have you had a go at the mobile firms concerned ...

Vodafone got a fair bit of grief from those affected by the outage. I'm
not on Vodafone or was affected so not really in a position to complain.

or better still your MP?..

As we agreed earlier it's down to population density and a commercial
decision.

Haven't you got your own gas turbine set yet;?...

No just a 125cc or there abouts single cylinder diesel that is as noisy
as Fk but keeps the fridges/freezers/fishtank running at the cost of
about 1l/red/hour. Lighting and cooking fall back to gas.

--
Cheers
Dave.