Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: Jim Anderson Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Boston Gas "Specially-equipped Gas Meter" Message-ID: <8654@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 4 Jun 90 03:17:00 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 44 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 413, Message 5 of 9 In article <8329@accuvax.nwu.edu> henry@garp.mit.edu writes: >In the next two weeks, Boston Gas Company will be in your neighborhood >to install a new meter reading system. ... >We will then be able to read your meter accurately by radio signal >from a computer equipped van as we drive down your street. ... >Now, aside from not including very many details of this new system >(does it continuously broadcast use? If not, then how does it know to >broadcast? how is the signal encoded? ...), one wonders what gives >boston gas company the idea that I want them to install a radio >transmitter in my home. I had a tour of E. F. Johnson in Waseca, MN a few weeks ago, and they showed me their product that does this. Apparently, E. F. Johnson is one of the major players in this market. The gentleman giving the tour described how this works. Basically, the meter is built on a SMD style board, with a single large chip, a few peripheral components, an antenna, and a lithium battery. The electronics track usage, and listen on the antenna for a trigger signal. This signal is given by a truck with a transmit/receive antenna. When it hears this signal, it transmits its preprogrammed ID, and the current meter reading, then goes back to standby mode. As far as the signal encoding goes, it probably is a relatively unsophisticated code, as the transmission is only a burst transmission and (my opinion) should only contain the current meter reading, not the usage since the previous reading. I hope this explains how this device works. My understanding is that the electric companies, gas companies, and other utility companies are REAL excited about this meter. Jim Anderson (612) 636-2869 Anderson O'Brien, Inc New mail:jim@aob.mn.org 2575 N. Fairview Ave. Old mail:{rutgers,amdahl}!bungia!aob!jim St. Paul, MN 55113 Lucifer designed MS-DOS to try men's souls.