BPL: Broadband over Power Lines?

Originally posted by gbrumb:
AlbertB.............It all has to do with presentation. Stating it as a problem perceived and request discussion and debate is one thing. Presenting it as a forgone conclusion, hand wringing "woe is me" is another. Posts here tend to be much more of the latter then the former.
A first time reader here would think that the US (and to a certain extant England) was about to descend into political riots with a collapse of the economy and a slide off into the ocean!

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GB

I remain personally positive. Which is why, I am taking on the new challenge of CFO of a new Wave Media company (spinning out from a London University) at my tender age!

However, trying to operate a modern business, compete against the rest of the World, create wealth, retain and create jobs, becomes harder, day-by-day, owing to the idiocy of such as Teflon Tony and Gordon Brown.

Funny that, I have just realised that HIS initials are the same as yours!

You aint no kissin' kin, are yu brother? He's a dang blasted lawyer, too!

Get a life? Yes, I would agree, in some cases.
Personally, particularly lately, I post rarely, since I am just far too busy! Anyway, it beats watching the crap on TV, which is even more depressing than the apparently negative posts you critique here at TSG CivDeb!

I do not wish to depress anyone! As you and I have agreed before, the secret with money, is to predict the trends.

That's all I do....................................

If I rant off about my society, it's because it IS going backwards at a rapid rate.

Not my fault. Not my doing. I do regret it, however, very much!

That's why I have bought the house in France and plan to retire (or semi-retire!) there in just a few more years.

BTW, most of my analysis of the US economy, comes from US sources!

So blame them!

On a more important note, have you managed to find any decent Continental lager for the Lager and Limes, yet?

Paq

This general idea has been around for a long, long time. Generally known as Power Line Carrier Transmission.

As mentioned before there are home control systems using the X-10 technology codes and equipment for home control. These systems are designed for sending coded pulse trains impressed or modulated over top the power frequency. Various hardware modules are involved with sending codes, some just listen and do commands, like turning on lights, dimming, etc.

In theory it is a great system. I built one for my home and have a very complete DOS operating system that I wrote myself. This system can do all the normal monitoring and control including analog inputs, X-10 commands out to the system, listen for other devices like special TV clickers generating RF based X-10 commands or can interface to the telephone system for external control anywhere in the World. My system is run by a dedicated Point of Service computer.

After you play around with this type system, you find the flaws. X-10 requires a double pulse train of the same information, collision detection to listen before to ensure no other device is talking, etc. etc. Other problem areas are ground faults in the home wiring, weak signals, etc. But it does work well if you have a technical background and can program your own system and maybe build some of your own hardware.

The signals can get loose and trigger a neighbors system. From my experience will go about 1/4 mile.

The power utilities have used a similar system for years for some signaling. Is one method for sending load dispatch signals. The patents for this technology go back to the begining days of power utilities.

There are some industrial uses of the technology. From my experience anything that sends fairly simple commands has a chance of working. There are examples of home systems that use power wiring as speaker wiring, telephone transmission system, etc. In general they are crappy, in that the information conveyed is degraded.

I tend to doubt a Web broadband system could be built using Power Line Carrier Technology. Too much information wants to be impressed at the same time. All the normal faults present in a power system will come into play. Harmonics, overloaded transformers, various problems that distort information. Just amplifying it for longer distances will probably be a problem.

For some applications like power meter reading, selected control applications and other non heavy loaded information transfers work very well. The Web broadband probably is far more happy with wires and cables designed to transfer and preserve information integity.

Originally posted by gbrumb:
Is that what the British are calling old now?

Still working on an acceptable lager, will report back.

So you are taking on the responsibility of a new enterprise which by necessity means you see bright prospects for both the company and you.

Why not bring a little (or more) of that attitude here? :up:

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GB

It is a VERY exciting opportunity!

More on this one anon, I'm sure. Our CEO is presently in the USA (LA) at a media convention.

All I do on the CivDeb board, is to react to stimuli.

I calls 'em as I see's 'em! Mainly, 'cos that's what I am, mainly, I am an analyst, thus I tend to try and determine trends from current data.

Perhaps it is wise to remember that: "All improvement necessarily requires change - all change is not necessarily improvement."

One of my self-penned aphorisms, from about ten years ago...........

Lager: have I recommended Groslche, Dutch lager? needs to be the genuine brewed in Holland one though: green curly bottle, with a flip stopper. Good stuff!

Paq

Our mob are big in Content Creation. The CEO is a noted movie producer and director and the Production Director has made many superb "shorts" which have won awards. We won the Macromedia Award last year and are the only Apple Center of Excellence of its type in the UK.

www.tlmh.co.uk Surf our new web site.

Interested on your view of the Groslche. I have actually been to the area in Holland where it is brewed and drunk it locally. Always seems to taste better! That was on a Rotary visit when my club twinned with a Dutch club.

We took over a small barrel of English bitter, brewed in a local brewery set-up by two enthusiasts. I managed to buy it direct from the brewery.

One of our members took it over with strict instructions for the barrel to be left standing for AT LEAST 12 hours before serving.

So, the waiters moved it, shaking the sediment up: it was cloudy, to say the least!

However, our Dutch friends loved it, but I worried for days after, about their bowel movements the next day!

All the best.

Paq

Originally posted by Paquadez:
P.S. proper British bitter "live" ale, has a sediment. DO NOT drink it if it is cloudy!

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Allow me to bore you with a "war" story. I had a gentleman come into my office who claimed while drinking a Rolling Rock beer (Canadian brewer owned by a Belgium company) watching basketball felt "something" slide down his throat. He looked at the bottle (dark green) and noticed a "grayish sludge like matter" at the bottom of the bottle. He became immediately sick with various fluids coming out of all body openings. Spent the evening in the emergency room and was sent home the next day. Came to see me a few days later. I, of course, asked to see the bottle. No such luck, his wife had thrown it out during the commotion. Labatt's (Canadian brewer) of course claimed that it couldn't have happened because they have the safest most hygienic etc etc brewing plant in the world yadda yadda. I was explaining this to the client when the wife pulled the remaining five bottles from the six pack out of a shopping bag. Guess what was in the bottom of all five sealed bottles? Long story short. Labatt's tested the material, turned out to be a filtering agent used in the brewery to filter the beer shortly before bottling. Perfectly harmless, at least according to them.
I made them pay twice (Mulder will like this). First, to compensate my client for the injury.
Second, to get back the remaining four bottles of beer.