From: "Mike O'Connor" <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
Message-ID: <4BAC45D3.4040904@austarnet.com.au>
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:27:47 +1000
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To: OS/2 Wireless Users Mailing List <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com>
Subject: Re: [OS2Wireless] Wireless router (mainly OFF TOPIC)
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Will Honea wrote:
> ** Reply to message from "chekmarx" <os2-wireless_users@2rosenthals.com> on
> Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:48:16 -0400
>
> I spent years building and installing instrumentation for every thing from $hit
> handling (sewer/storm systems) to water distribution systems to bomb blast
> analysis.  The hazards  common to all these systems were location/environment
> and lightning.  There is no perfect answer nor is it a subject that can be
> covered in a few short messages but you've already had some of the best advice
> that can be squeezed in there.  I'll try and address a couple of things in-line
> below 
>> Hi Mike,
>>
>> Wow!  That's all I can think to say about such a massive lightening strike
>> and the negative results.  No, that's not true.  I think you just convinced
>> me to do two things:
>>     
> Not especially massive.  The shack was below a 200' water tower so that shunted
> most of the energy.  It was located on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina so
> lightning was very common during thunderstorms and hurricanes.  Given that the
> tower was on metal struts with foundations well into the damp (soggy?) ground
> it would have normally been pretty safe but...
>   
>> 1] Buy a UPS regardless of the physical size of the unit and find room for
>> it no matter what!
>>     
>
> I use an APC P70.  Cost me about $70 at Sam's Club a couple of years back and
> runs my whole office for about 30 minutes or the desktop and LCD monitor for an
> hour or so.  The computer is programmed to receive the monitoring system and
> shut down after 15 minutes of AC failure.  It is NOT intended to keep me typing
> rather it serves to allow an orderly shut sown.  Since this house was built in
> the early 70's and initially was on a single-point feed from the utility
> company, it was subject to frequent short interruptions until they finally
> connected a second substation to loop the feed.  It was also subject to
> considerable line noise from heavy loads like construction equipment.  
>
> Working with truly non-interruptable systems while in the Air Force, that
> initial backup would serve to bridge the time between commercial power loss and
> stabilization of the diesel generators.  Bear in mind that nothing is perfect -
> you run out of diesel after a few days as proven by Hurricane Katrina.
>   
>> 2] Get myself some renter's insurance, regardless of the monthly or yearly
>> premium!
>>     
>
> Get it from a good agent and be SURE of what it covers.  The premium difference
> between cheap policies that are little more than scams and truly good insurance
> is fairly small.
>  
>   
>> If I got hit with lightening even only somewhat as powerful as you just
>> described and lost my musical and computer gear I'd be looking in the
>> neighborhood of $5 to $6 thousand to replace everything.  And some of the
>> gear is nearly irreplaceable.  The Les-Paul guitar I own for instance
>> increases in value every quarter of the year.  Models like mine run from
>> $2000 to $10,000 depending on age and condition.  Gibson Les-Paul's are
>> pretty much worth their weight in gold.  Go to www.musiciansfriend.com and
>> take a look at the range of prices and you will be blown away.  Even their
>> "Studio" models, which are basic pieces with all the sonic qualities of the
>> more expensive models, they just lack the physical "beauty" of their pricier
>> kin go for at least a grand and up.
>>     
>
> Don't expect me to be surprised - my wife owns a violin that is worth more than
> this house by far.  With reliable provenance, it dates to 1690 - 1700.  Try and
> replace THAT!
>  
>   
>> So basically, you have scared the crap out of me!  You'd think with all my
>> years of experience of working professionally with computers I'd know better
>> than to tempt fate.  But at all the large firms I worked at we had *HUGE*
>> power conditioners and a power outage due to any reason just wasn't
>> something we ever had to worry about.  Out of sight, so out of mind
>> basically ....
>>     
>
> >From the sound of it, you don't own your own place.  That means you will be
> limited to some extent as to what you can do.  Again, the UPS is an essential
> first step.  That battery is a huge energy sink and the transformer is one of
> the best isolators you can get.  At one small church I help out, our answer was
> multiple smaller UPS units - under $50 each - with one in each office and one
> for the phone system and network hubs.  Just for redundancy, I ran #8 wire
> between the grounds on each UPS and connected both ends to copper water pipes
> (not the gas line like one damned fool in town did).  The only thing you have
> that really could use any significant operating time after a power outage is
> the computer and even that is small so you don't really need the UPS so much
> for power-out operation as for isolation.
>   
>> Do you have any quick methods of how-to size up what power-level of UPS to
>> buy?  I know I can go to google.com and find the info but if you have some
>> quick method off the top of your head it will save me the time of reading
>> and figuring out for myself what I need.  Not to mention the fact that also
>> I trust your judgment more so than what I might find on the 'net.
>>     
>
> I'm a fan of multiple UPS setups.  Add up the power needed by each item to be
> plugged in, decide how you want it split up, then go to the suppliers catalog
> to find something that meets to output spec for each group.  Unless you rattle
> the walls with sub-woofers, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how little you
> REALLY need.  The cost per watt of UPS output goes down as the size increases
> (up to a point) so you may want to share one supply with all you instruments. 
>   
>> Thanks Mike, seriously!  You've knocked some digital sense into this old
>> brain-pan of mine, and for that I am grateful.  I'd be sick if I lost even
>> half of my gear!
>>     
>
> Someone here mentioned one simple precaution with a very attractive price
> (free):  Unplug things that are not in use.  Use a power strip and unplug that
> instead of unplugging individual units (don't rely on the switch - the air gap
> of an off switch isn't that great).
>
> BTW, I'm assuming you live in a lightning prone area.  I live in Colorado which
> is second only to Florida (or the Southeast US in general) in the frequency of
> lightning strikes.  While it does a good job of thinning out the golfing
> population it is not an ideal location for electronics.
>
>   
Hi Will,

I enjoyed reading of your experiences too!

Regards,
Mike

-- 
Failed the exam for
--------------------
MCSE - Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert
--------------------
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