Dominion Power off radios

Well pretty much what John and others speculated was confirmed today.

I ran into a Dominion guy off a truck and asked him about their radio system and if they use it.

His response was almost never and if they ever do its only if their cell phones are out of range.

He said the radio covers a huge area and they can reach their base which is very far away but they don't use it anymore.

Cell phones exclusively.

He said occasionally they'll hop on the radio for simplex comms like "Hey you left your lights on" or something like that to another unit but that's it.

So that's that.

When I mentioned AEP uses their radio system routinely he seemed quite surprised as he said most everyone now just uses their cells.

Just FYI

Wait until the power fails in a big way, and they can't deliver power to cell sites.

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You mean like these two latest ones?

RFI-EMI-GUY said:

Wait until the power fails in a big way, and they can't deliver power to cell sites.

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You mean like these two latest ones which occurred in 2003 and 2014?

2nd largest power outage in Virginia's history - NBC12 - WWBT - Richmond, VA News On Your Side

I am on the Prince George County Electric Coop. grid. When Va. Power or whatever the latest name the company now calls itself, i.e. Dominion Power or Dominion Energy whatever, the fact remains it cost the shareholders hundreds of thousands of dollars to have every vehicle in their fleet repainted, new stationary printed, etc. It also was overwhelmed for the size and scale of the damage encountered in 2003.

To me it forever will remain "Va. Power". Prince George Electric Coop. obtains 100% of its' power grid from one or more Va. Power sub-stations in the Isle of Wight county area. If the Va. Power grid goes dead so does the Prince George Electric power grid. The worst outage I experienced was in 2003 when I was without power for 6 days. I also was the only one in my immediate area with a gas generator and emergency food stores. I also had a quick disconnect jumper connection to my well for water. A large pine tree fell on a power line causing the transformer feeding my home to snap and fall bringing power and cable tv lines down and also blocking my driveway. My power finally was restored by one of the Pike Electric crews out of Mt. Airy, NC., a major Va. Power contractor who was really good and experienced about these power restoration situations which happen.

I didn't have any damage from the 2011 hurricane which caused only fringe damage in my area.

John
W4UVV

That begs other questions

Ghstwolf62 said:

Well pretty much what John and others speculated was confirmed today.

I ran into a Dominion guy off a truck and asked him about their radio system and if they use it.

His response was almost never and if they ever do its only if their cell phones are out of range.

He said the radio covers a huge area and they can reach their base which is very far away but they don't use it anymore.

Cell phones exclusively.

He said occasionally they'll hop on the radio for simplex comms like "Hey you left your lights on" or something like that to another unit but that's it.

So that's that.

When I mentioned AEP uses their radio system routinely he seemed quite surprised as he said most everyone now just uses their cells.

Just FYI

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Tnx. As you know both Va. Power and AEP both are big on contracting out. Excluding that I can conclude now with more confidence that Va. Power best case uses their HF, low vhf;high vhf, and uhf, excluding PTP microwave frequencies as backups to terrestrial cell phone systems on 800 mhz. and/or PCS cell phone systems 1,900-2,100 mhz.) that's the one with the towers you see where ever they can mount one every 10 miles or less depending on coverage.

I just checked my frequency data base and Va. Power has 402 FCC licensed frequencies total on vhf/uhf excluding microwave licenses, which require a renewal! Can you imagine the renewal fees for each of these licenses and how much this eventually totals? They are being renewed before expiration. So far I have not encountered an expired one yet.

Also, my guess is one or more radio installers is under contract to maintain/repair/replace Va. Power vehicle and base station radios. The frequencies which are active that I can receive are DMR and are all data. They certainly don't have to worry about the power bill for their radio systems rarely if ever used.
Their insurance for rising operating costs is to always have a rate increase request before the appropriate state regulatory commission. If they wait long enough, it most likely will be approved.

John
W4UVV

They don't need any rate increases. Its already astronomical. Mine just went up from high to way too high. Almost a hundred dollars worth. When you consider its two old people in a small mobile home and the bill is over $300, that's ridiculous. Then again I guess they have to have some way to pay for all those freqs they don't use.

Weird they'd keep all these licenses which they don't use anymore though.

But yeah you said it. The guy told me they only use it when they are out of cell range which almost never happens. The simplex stuff is chatter vs real use. Very brief and rare he said.

You just do not understand

Ghstwolf62 said:

They don't need any rate increases. Its already astronomical. Mine just went up from high to way too high. Almost a hundred dollars worth. When you consider its two old people in a small mobile home and the bill is over $300, that's ridiculous. Then again I guess they have to have some way to pay for all those freqs they don't use.

Weird they'd keep all these licenses which they don't use anymore though.

But yeah you said it. The guy told me they only use it when they are out of cell range which almost never happens. The simplex stuff is chatter vs real use. Very brief and rare he said.

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You are looking at this all wrong. You don't understand. It's not personal. An always open pending request for a rate increase to the SCC is a like another form of insurance because the general theory of management is operating costs always increase in time due to inflation, yuccky weather, etc.. At some time and point the SCC will approve it. On the consumer side we pray that the SCC first rejects the request or otherwise spends a really long time considering the request for a rate increase before approval.

Seriously, for what it's worth I lived in two mobile homes over a period of 4 years in Prince George Co. in the mid-70s. But as I stated I am on the Prince George Co. Electric grid. On my second mobile home which was a 12ft. x 60ft, although I was content with my first one which was 10ft. x 50ft., an opportunity to buy the larger 12ft. x 60ft. one three spaces down from where I was and I bought it. Laugh if you must but one of the first things I did was little by little remove each exterior side panel and insert a three in. R30 insulation section. After that project was finished I created a wire "spider web" support underneath the mobile home again using 3 in. insulation. It made a difference in my electric bill.. When I sold it in 1978 as I was purchasing my present home, the buyer was especially pleased of my past efforts and my money spent which he could continue to enjoy. I also was 35 years younger also when I did it. I don't think that's a practical option for your situation but it would help on the electric bill. But insulation ain't cheap and it is nasty fiberous stuff to work with and a face mask definitely is required..

John
W4UVV

FWIW I'm still hearing Virginia Power on their 451 MHz freqs in SE VA.