What did you do today to prep?

[erudne]

Power died a few days ago.
Tripped the main disconnect, went to the barn started the genset.
Connection cord had an open neutral.
Both legs swung from 80 to 175 volts.
3 ups units (one caught fire)
>15 light bulbs
5 plug-in transformers
Microwave
Oven
DSL modem
Finally back online

Please explain this to us idiots:
What Happened?
UPS unit?

 

[CoastRange57]

Pressure cook the chickens and make chicken soup!

LMAO on this one...my wife fixes these chickens a warm mash on these cold mornings. The chances of them being stewed is slim to none. In order to keep the peace, I will let her do what she wants with them. The cost of feed is a small price for household peace.

 

[rick benjamin]

Commercial power to the house 240 volts AC single phase
Commercial power failed about 7pm, 11 Nov (restored about 24 hours later)
6250 watt Generator in the Barn 240 volts AC single phase.
Two legs, 120 volts AC with a common neutral

Without the neutral, the hot legs rule.
I think the short jumper cord (after 20 years) failed.
170 volts (approx) killed the stuff I listed .
While waiting for the DSL modem, I tested and replaced toasted stuff.
Almost forgot, three GFCI outlets toasted.
Found a 1.8cuft microwave to replace the dead one for $160 at Sears
Ordered control board for the GE oven $180
Bought a new 6250 watt genset at Home Depot $700.
Night time cold, wind, didn't feel like troubleshooting a genset.

UPS (un-interruptable power supply) Basically a battery and inverter and control circuit
It creates 120 volts AC by pulling DC battery power through the inverter making AC power
Normally it monitors 120 volts AC going to computers, etc.
When it sees a glitch, loss of power, brownout, it instantly disconnects the "bad" power.
Computers are un-affected, and are protected from outside interference.

 

[JackThompson]

Power died a few days ago.
Tripped the main disconnect, went to the barn started the genset.
Connection cord had an open neutral.
Both legs swung from 80 to 175 volts.
3 ups units (one caught fire)
>15 light bulbs
5 plug-in transformers
Microwave
Oven
DSL modem
Finally back online

I think what erudne was asking (Not for Jpegs of the items you mentioned) is what does it mean?

You listed items.

It could mean
A: The list represented the sum of items powered normally by your backup power system that were "Finally back online"
or
B: A list of items destroyed by a power surge caused by an open circuit, that you repaired, replaced or somehow brought "Finally back online"

Or maybe he wanted Jpegs.

I just read it and wasn't sure what you were saying.

 

[rick benjamin]

What Happened? Bad power.
Lots of destroyed electronic stuff.
Three UPS units, the one underneath my desk caught fire.
The listed stuff was the destroyed stuff.
Electronic stuff is designed to work within limits.
170 volts is way out of limits, the magic departs in the form of smoke, flame.

 

[Brutus57]

Took 10 days but 25lbs of all purpose flour showed up today from wally world. Cost....less than $8.00 and free shipping. Replaced the oil filter on the AWD last week when it showed up as part of this same order. Overkill on the packing material so the back yard fire pit got a work out too. We are really liking living on the island. Downside, this heavy frosts for several night has probably zapped our fall plantings. Next year we might have to move up two weeks planting ahead of the suggested time frame for fall crops.

Brutus Out

 

[Brutus57]

I had an inexpensive dehydrator years ago and I sold it after using it once. If I were to redo my decision I would buy a more expensive unit because the one thing a propane oven will NOT do is dehydrate!

Good food dehydration requires airflow. Ovens don't have the necessary airflow. Learned that today from my wife who is taking master food preservationist course through U of Idaho.

Brutus Out

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Good food dehydration requires airflow. Ovens don't have the necessary airflow. Learned that today from my wife who is taking master food preservationist course through U of Idaho.

Brutus Out

Very nice! SRG

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Pressure cook the chickens and make chicken soup!

I tried some of the large zucchini I skinned and froze in August; nuked it and fried it, not as good as fresh but acceptable. I might add it to stew next time as it retains a lot of water, maybe spaghetti sauce, along with my frozen tomatoes??

The wife freezes grated zucchini in baggys for zucchini bread, and adds a little to banana bread, for the rest of the year. Yum, great stuff!
BTW, she makes a pretty healthy zucchini bread. Whole wheat flour and she replaces most of the oil with apple sauce (home made). Very moist!

 

[Sgt Nambu]

What Happened? Bad power.
Lots of destroyed electronic stuff.
Three UPS units, the one underneath my desk caught fire.
The listed stuff was the destroyed stuff.
Electronic stuff is designed to work within limits.
170 volts is way out of limits, the magic departs in the form of smoke, flame.

That sucks, rick! DaMd expensive! As my friend said to me, under similar circumstances, the other day, "Its easy to get this stuff to smoke, but it's almost impossible to put the smoke back in!"

 

[JackThompson]

What Happened? Bad power.
Lots of destroyed electronic stuff.
Three UPS units, the one underneath my desk caught fire.
The listed stuff was the destroyed stuff.
Electronic stuff is designed to work within limits.
170 volts is way out of limits, the magic departs in the form of smoke, flame.

Hah! From my computer I can see your whole response! On my iPhone it just looked like 2 Jpegs lol.

Man.. that is a LOT of pain right there. I'm so sorry to hear it.

So on the side of my Generac it says "Start with no cables plugged in"... would that have helped or prevented what happened to you?

 

[rick benjamin]

Hah! From my computer I can see your whole response! On my iPhone it just looked like 2 Jpegs lol.
Man.. that is a LOT of pain right there. I'm so sorry to hear it.
So on the side of my Generac it says "Start with no cables plugged in"... would that have helped or prevented what happened to you?

I started with no cables plugged in, between last time and now, one wire broke in the 4 wire cable.

Steps for folks that aren't as oriented to electricity.
Commercial power dies (with flashlight in hand)
1. Trip (turn-off) the main panel master breaker (isolates your home from the neighborhood)
2. Start and run your generator (warm for 30 seconds)
3. Plug-in the cable(s)
4. Observe that your home now has power (neighbors envious)
Refueling Note: Disconnect cables and turn-off generator before re-filling gas tank.
Have a fire extinguisher at hand.

 

[Doc In UPlace]

I live within 225 feet of some neighbors who failed to keep up their electrical bill and so resorted to the generator for 35 days.

In our instance the sequence was:

2. Start and run your generator (warm for 30 seconds)
3. Plug-in the cable(s)
4. Observe that your home now has power (neighbors thinking studiously about green-tip penetrators and tracers, alternating in 30-round magazines)

 

[The Heretic]

Got the Baofeng HT (BF-F8HP ) delivered last night.

Not hearing any conversations on the local repeater, but I scanned around a little and I am picking up a couple of guys talking on 146.980 - I think that is W7PRA - the repeater in the west hills of Portland. One guy in Lake Oswego, another I think is in Vancouver.

The repeater is about 30 miles away at 1200 ft. elevation and I don't think there are any hills between there that are high enough to obstruct my line of sight to that repeater.

I don't have my license yet (haven't taken the test yet - couple of weeks until the next one is given), so I am not seeing yet if I can reach out to it. I will have to put up an omni on a tree and run that into my office here at home and see how well I get out via either the omni or the antenna on the HT from where I am.

 

[JackThompson]

Almost finished with the access panel that will go downstairs in the house to wire my radios to the antenna tower.

Received a box of specially hand loaded 30-30 and 30.06 from a good friend in Idaho. This stuff will take down an Elk, or anything else in the way. Barnes triple shock and Remington Silver tips. old school top shelf bullets.

Studying for my General class license.

 

[salmonriverjohn]

Cut and wrapped a nice tender spike bull to fit between the two blacktail bucks in the freezer last night,,, thems good eats right there, u hum.

 

[Brutus57]

Taking delivery of the 20 pounds of local grass fed angus today.

Brutus Out

 

[CoastRange57]

Taking delivery of the 20 pounds of local grass fed angus today.

Brutus Out

That is the absolute best beef to be had.

 

[CoastRange57]

Got the Baofeng HT (BF-F8HP ) delivered last night.

Not hearing any conversations on the local repeater, but I scanned around a little and I am picking up a couple of guys talking on 146.980 - I think that is W7PRA - the repeater in the west hills of Portland. One guy in Lake Oswego, another I think is in Vancouver.

The repeater is about 30 miles away at 1200 ft. elevation and I don't think there are any hills between there that are high enough to obstruct my line of sight to that repeater.

I don't have my license yet (haven't taken the test yet - couple of weeks until the next one is given), so I am not seeing yet if I can reach out to it. I will have to put up an omni on a tree and run that into my office here at home and see how well I get out via either the omni or the antenna on the HT from where I am.

That is the KGW tower repeater. Great coverage on it. There was 2OUEK, Chris in London England on there yesterday, on a Echolink node. Quite the conversation. That is the local repeater to the state linked system. you can talk to Medford, Redding, Central Oregon, Coos Bay. Centralia, all over on that one. I have no trouble getting that one for about 35 miles west, and I can also open the Marys Peak repeater on the same system, it is a blow torch at 3,500 feet west of Corvallis.

Let me know when you get your ticket and we can chat sometime. That is a good repeater to listen to prior to getting your ticket, you can pick up a lot.

 

[The Heretic]

That is the KGW tower repeater. Great coverage on it. There was 2OUEK, Chris in London England on there yesterday, on a Echolink node. Quite the conversation. That is the local repeater to the state linked system. you can talk to Medford, Redding, Central Oregon, Coos Bay. Centralia, all over on that one. I have no trouble getting that one for about 35 miles west, and I can also open the Marys Peak repeater on the same system, it is a blow torch at 3,500 feet west of Corvallis.

Let me know when you get your ticket and we can chat sometime. That is a good repeater to listen to prior to getting your ticket, you can pick up a lot.

Yes, I've been listening to it on my commute - not because they are saying anything really interesting (I think yesterday they were talking about their most fun car - I turned it off until I was where I wanted to check reception again), but because the constant chatter during my commute tells me where on my commute I get poor reception - which is just when I get down off the mountain until I get into the urban boundary on Scholls Ferry road and onto Murray hill - then the reception gets better. On the reverse, I take a bit different route, through Hillsboro then cut over the hills to Scholls. Again, once I start going over that one hill the reception gets worse.

I figure with that little antenna that where I get poor reception I probably could not transmit to the repeater either. Up here on the mountain though the reception is pretty good, but not sure I could reach the repeater. I will have to wait to get my license and then try.

The echolink/et. al. is nice - but that wouldn't be there for long if the grid went down.

I could setup a personal repeater here. I have heard anything from the repeater on the top of Chehalem. I wonder how well it does for reaching Sheridan/Willamina which is where I want to move when I retire.