Why does my smart meter have a flashing IR strobe?
April 05, 2024, 12:00 PM
0-0
0-0
"OP is a troll" - Flashlightboy, 12/18/20
April 05, 2024, 01:06 PM
HRK
This is how Skynet starts....
April 05, 2024, 01:58 PM
Gustofer
In all seriousness, I'm not crazy about having this beacon on the side of my house. I suppose that I could wrap the glass/plastic window in duct tape, that shouldn't interfere with the RF signal (too much), and see if the power company sends out a flunkie to investigate. Hmmm....
________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
April 05, 2024, 02:04 PM
CD228
quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer: In all seriousness, I'm not crazy about having this beacon on the side of my house. I suppose that I could wrap the glass/plastic window in duct tape, that shouldn't interfere with the RF signal (too much), and see if the power company sends out a flunkie to investigate. Hmmm....
It's gotta be line of sight, so they would have to be close enough to see it, to pull any data. It might be an IR transceiver like the one they used to put on printers so you could print using a palm pc, if it is, it'd probably be used to collect billing info. The company would only notice yours beung out, if they came for a meter reading/inspection.
I'm interested to see if your neighbors are emiting too.
April 05, 2024, 02:10 PM
StorminNormin
quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer: I was playing around with my new PVS 14 tonight and noticed the flashing IR light on my smart meter.
I'm not so sure that I like having that there. Anybody know what its purpose is?
This is something I saw.
Most modern electricity meters or smart meters (often on the digital display to detect) have an IR interface via which you can read the current consumption and other data. The data is read out with the help of an IR read head.
NRA Benefactor Life Member
April 05, 2024, 02:17 PM
Rey HRH
quote:
Originally posted by StorminNormin:
quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer: I was playing around with my new PVS 14 tonight and noticed the flashing IR light on my smart meter.
I'm not so sure that I like having that there. Anybody know what its purpose is?
This is something I saw.
Most modern electricity meters or smart meters (often on the digital display to detect) have an IR interface via which you can read the current consumption and other data. The data is read out with the help of an IR read head.
Are you saying the receiver is with whoever is driving around to read the meters or is there a permanently fixed receiver? I was thinking fixed receiver and curious where and how could he locate it.
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
April 05, 2024, 02:24 PM
KSGM
There's other IR stuff you'll notice with the PVS14 too. A hot silencer will glow in the IR spectrum before it is visible to your unaided eye. There's also flora that glows in the IR spectrum.
The cell phone blinking I had mentioned before happens on the camera side of mine, IIRC. I think I have seen folks saying that any phone with the facial recognition access is always throwing out some IR from the screen side.
April 05, 2024, 02:29 PM
selogic
quote:
Originally posted by StorminNormin:
quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
I'm not so sure that I like having that there. Anybody know what its purpose is?
Yep , I've seen the meter techs connect their laptop computers to the meters using a little device that attached to the front . It was obviously some kind of optical coupling .
April 05, 2024, 02:32 PM
LS1 GTO
Means your Carbon Credits are running low and you will see a higher rate on your next bill.
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.
"If dogs don't go to Heaven, I want to go where they go" Will Rogers
The definition of the words we used, carry a meaning of their own...
April 05, 2024, 03:07 PM
Gustofer
quote:
Originally posted by selogic: Yep , I've seen the meter techs connect their laptop computers to the meters using a little device that attached to the front . It was obviously some kind of optical coupling .
My understanding was that these new meters negated the need for employees to read meters and sent the data automatically to the power company via cell/radio. What would be the point of installing all of these new meters if they still have to come out and "couple" with it?
________________________________________________________ "Great danger lies in the notion that we can reason with evil." Doug Patton.
April 05, 2024, 03:26 PM
StorminNormin
quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
quote:
Originally posted by selogic: Yep , I've seen the meter techs connect their laptop computers to the meters using a little device that attached to the front . It was obviously some kind of optical coupling .
My understanding was that these new meters negated the need for employees to read meters and sent the data automatically to the power company via cell/radio. What would be the point of installing all of these new meters if they still have to come out and "couple" with it?
I would think it is just there so that if there is ever a time some type of diagnostic or other data needs to be retrieved, it can easily be done with an IR device.
NRA Benefactor Life Member
April 05, 2024, 07:32 PM
selogic
quote:
Originally posted by Gustofer:
quote:
Originally posted by selogic: Yep , I've seen the meter techs connect their laptop computers to the meters using a little device that attached to the front . It was obviously some kind of optical coupling .
My understanding was that these new meters negated the need for employees to read meters and sent the data automatically to the power company via cell/radio. What would be the point of installing all of these new meters if they still have to come out and "couple" with it?
Programming and routine calibrations .
April 05, 2024, 09:28 PM
MikeinNC
Wrap it in aluminum foil and see who shows up
"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein
“You may beat me, but you will never win.” sigmonkey-2020
“A single round of buckshot to the torso almost always results in an immediate change of behavior.” Chris Baker
April 06, 2024, 12:12 AM
cas
It's not a beacon as such, it's an "IR interface". Like your TV remote, to communicate with some hand held doohickey, to program the meter or get info off of it.
