Generators

[Andy Champ]

So's the web site:

"Buy this domain

The domain diyenergy.com may be for sale by its owner!"

(I only went to look to see if it was USA based...)

Andy

[polygonum]

But, for example, those with Virgin land-lines, seem to have an excess of flat-battery-in-cabinet issues. Obviously I do not have access to their figures - but 'twas very rare on BT exchange lines.

[tony sayer]

FWIW...

I had to set up a VoIP phone number for a phone in at a local radio station the other week . Around 80% of calls in were via mobile phones.

Now you'd think that these would be made by younger persons but a call analysis shows that most all of the respondents were aged 50 plus....

Furthermore a lot of the calls in were made in the evening so it wasn't likely to be people phoning in whilst in the car or on the move or using the mobile whilst at work during the day..

[tony sayer]

We've been on cable since they started cable TV round here in 1994.

In that time perhaps Three failures all due to Padrig somewhere being a bit careless with his digger;!.

I do note what you say as some networks before they all came together under the Virgin brand were built better than others.

However around here the important cabs have a battery backup and are fed off a 50 volt supply in their cabling..

[Mark]

And me, when the overhead power line trips the local cell also goes out.

-

[polygonum]

Certainly Virgin claim that cabinets contain batteries. (Not sure if that is "all" or "some"!) But a very brief bit of research identified several people who had posted about the issue - so batteries might have been flat or of insufficient capacity. I suspect that maintaining them - distributed as they are across very large areas, is a more onerous task than in a conventional exchange.

[Bill]

In message , polygonum writes

Certainly in the Cambridge area VM will send an engineer out with a generator to sit with a roadside cabinet if it is important and has a mains failure. A friend of mine has had more than his fair share of doing just this.

BT, as far as I know did not require power to their cabinets for phones.

[polygonum]

Precisely. But Virgin's technology does. Post Office Telephones used to have loads in the exchanges.

[charles]

Correct. Conventional copper wire phone are entirely powered at the exchange. Once there are active items in then cabinet then mains power is needed.

[Dave Liquorice]

+1 and ISDN.

The local cell (note singular but has the four networks) is on a different 11kV feed from the mains substation than us but if that feed goes, so does all the mobile coverage and TV...

Load shedding blackouts could well have a dramatic affect on the mobile networks. In urban/populated areas the cell density is high and a given spot may have coverage from many cells. Losing one due to a power distribution fault probably won't be noticed. But a load shedding blackout will affect a whole area, thus no cells left with power...

[Andy Champ]

So that includes FTTC?

Andy

[charles]

yes, how else would the signal from the fibre be got onto the copper local ends?

[tony sayer]

In article , charles scribeth thus

Indeed but come the new IP based services and Fibre then that I expect might well change....

[charles]

what BT are installing now, as part of "Superfasst Broadband" needs power in the cabinets.

[polygonum]

Does this also apply to simple telephone-only connections?

I assume it does, but have no knowledge.

[Dave Liquorice]

Yep cabinet loses power all subs off that cabinet lose their high speed internet. Wouldn't happen with FTTP and a PON.

[Chris J Dixon]

There are a few local planning applications for FTTC, and they show the intended route of the power connection they require.

Chris

[John Walliker]

I looked inside a few nearby FTTC cabinets while BT were working on them. They each had four large 12V SLA batteries giving a 48V standby supply.

In contrast, a nearby Orange "fill-in" base station had no batteries.

John

[Dave Liquorice]

Those batteries may actually be the supply albeit on on float charge. 48v is the normal supply for this sort of kit.

"Large" so maybe 50Ahr 500W of kit up time of a couple of hours...

FTTP and a PON would be up as long as the head end has power. In the case of BT they already have substantial batteries, and in many cases generators, at the head end (aka the exchange).

Quite, never rely on a mobile to work. There is only one cell site for all of the networks here, that cell must cover several tens of square miles. None of the networks have more than a few minuets back up power, some have none.

[Andy Burns]

I'd have thought even a "passive" fibre optic system would need some electricity to convert the photons back to electrons near the customer end (but certainly less than a roadside cabinet stuffed full of gigabit fibre ethernet routers, VDSL MSANs and fans)