Brilliant idea

[Lectrician]

I'm afraid you are far too late BAS

Even Volex are ahead of you

 

[BS3036]

Ummm... Series "A" USB connectors? Surely there should be just a single series "B" connector! Clearly that CU has never been put in for USB type approval!

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I see they've really taken the "M" in "MCB" to heart.

Good that their CUs need less space (though is it a niche market?), but I'll bet they're fiddly to wire.

A job for Sparkybird and her dainty digits, not you great oafs with bunches of bananas on the ends of your arms...

 

[mattylad]

Someones been playing with photoshop

Fire alarms get built in service history, notification, self testing of all circuits and even "service required" timers etc so if its possible then apart from the monitory costs of getting all electricians to use the same software in the new laptop they will have to get, Cu costs, MCB's/RCD's, sockets and fittings etc then I dont see why not.

Oh hang on, perhaps because it just wont happen.

But then again........ if a manufacturers sales dept catches wind of this suggestion then it may well happen, they like gimmicks!
(the "insert swear words here!")

 

[mattylad]

And why not go one further, communicate over the supply cables to the DNO like I think some meters do, then they can force people to have a PIR or the leccy will be turned off.

Now who had this silly idea

 

[pbar]

Lost certs, lack of documentation, drawings, design calcs, circuit schedules, history of changes etc - all a thing of the past.

All CUs to be equipped with a few GB of flash memory (dirt cheap & very small) and a USB port.

Info stored as PDF files with password protection so that anybody can read & print them, but only the original spark can change or copy them.

Plug in a laptop and away you go....

I don't know how secure these things need to be. It wouldn't be too hard to alter/change/replace the PDF's, even password protected one's.

 

[NewOrder]

Forget PDFs, this thing has to be reliable. Its time to go back to machine code. A very simple operating system run a simple processor such as the 386, 2MB RAM, 2MB storage, and just a very very simple database system. You would then upload the file to a laptop via USB (so flash disks don't get lost) and the software on the laptop will do all the decoding thus meaning the CU needs very little processing power.

Personaly though simplicity is king with CU's, our Wylex 8 way standard is 28 years old and has never missed a beat or been serviced for that matter

 

[oharaf]

BAS those MCB's are a dream to connect!!!! big bruts behind the cover!!

Nice thinking about electronic storage, there is something in the idea just the implementation to sort out and probably the extra cost to us boys for more new kit!!!!!

I love trees but I like paper more, less splinters

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• oharaf
• 17 Sep 2008
• 1

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• oharaf
• 17 Sep 2008
• 1

 

[Space cat]

My combi went on the blink a few days ago. Started flashing the Service Required light. Of course Microtosh had an engineer at the door almost before I knew anything was wrong. She plugged her pod in ---

And the rest is yet to come:

http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=137890

Unfortunately, although we can laugh today, the danger of this kind of abuse of power is real.

But I'm an optimist. I think the Mr Chips's of this world will always be one step ahead of the money grubbers. You just have to look at the music and film industries. Their best attempts to restrict what we can do with their products have all been cracked. Meanwhile, I'll be telling her where she can stuff her poxy pod.

PS: My boiler is a Potterton - and it's got a balanced flue.

 

[Lectrician]

And why not go one further, communicate over the supply cables to the DNO like I think some meters do, then they can force people to have a PIR or the leccy will be turned off.

Now who had this silly idea

Many sites have per hour metering with the comms taken over the GSM mobile network. Not sure exactly how. This is restricted to sites with huge weekly bills.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

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• oharaf
• 17 Sep 2008
• 1

or

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• oharaf
• 17 Sep 2008
• 1

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[tim west]

Forget PDFs, this thing has to be reliable. Its time to go back to machine code. A very simple operating system run a simple processor such as the 386, 2MB RAM, 2MB storage, and just a very very simple database system. You would then upload the file to a laptop via USB (so flash disks don't get lost) and the software on the laptop will do all the decoding thus meaning the CU needs very little processing power.

with a state of the art graphics card installed and touch panel technology, wifi, projection keyboard, etc etc all yours for £2999 inc vat and free delivery, installation and 1st year on site maintenance oops forgot to ask, is Microsoft Vista ok for you?

 

[333rocky333]

I was in a pub last week and the meter bloke opened the meter and stuck
in a new Vodaphone sim card like out of a mobile phone and resealed it.

 

[holmslaw]

..

 

[plugwash]

Info stored as PDF files with password protection so that anybody can read & print them, but only the original spark can change or copy them.

/me looks innocently at a PDF owner password removal tool.