Southern California Edison Observation/Question

[es93546]

I've been listening to SCE again. Before they went to a Phase 2 system I listened mostly in the winter to keep track of all the momentary and long term losses of power. I got to know their procedures and circuit locations quite well. Now I have a 325P2 and have been listening and logging their system quite often. These are the observations I've made:

I'm not hearing field units in the Bishop District (85) calling "Northern DOC" as they used to. Northern Doc used to be in Ventura and years ago had an ID of "Ventura DOC." I hear the units just calling "DOC, 8511." I've heard calling or reference to "Eastern DOC" now and again, but haven't heard Northern DOC called or making calls. What DOC (Distribution Operations Centers) have others heard?

Some of the best traffic is on the substation talkgroups. I found a electric utility glossary that helps interpret what I'm hearing. Due to the public safety (fire) outages their website now has maps of the circuits so I don't have to guess where they are. Up this way (Mono/Inyo Counties) we hear from "Control," which is the substation located at SCE hydro plant #4 on Bishop Creek just west of Bishop. For some reason I'm hearing, on the Mammoth Mountain repeater, all traffic on the Lugo A substation talkgroup. Lugo is located near Hesperia if I have my info correct. So I hear all the work being done in the Wrightwood, Phelan and Hesperia areas. The amount of traffic far exceeds the amount of Bishop traffic on either the District #85 ops or Control ops talkgroups. Can anyone guess why the Lugo A talkgroup is being transmitted on Mammoth Mountain?

Thanks, I know that the SCE radio system probably generates a low amount of interest. To me, in a high elevation, rural area, where I live in a small town, listening to SCE is essential. We experience more outages than those in cities and the flatlands. Listening to them helps us figure out how long power outages might last, it gives us information about what storms are doing and it gives us info when we've been previously notified of planned, maintenance type, power outages. I find it curious that more people don't monitor their electric utility radio systems.

 

[Ravenfalls]

Any radio can dial up any talkgroup. Someone wanted to listen to another area. How the trunking system works.

PHASE II, they may have changed a few things around? I have SCE sites in Phoenix for Palo Verde, rarely active.

 

[es93546]

Any radio can dial up any talkgroup. Someone wanted to listen to another area. How the trunking system works.

PHASE II, they may have changed a few things around? I have SCE sites in Phoenix for Palo Verde, rarely active.

This isn't someone who just wanted to hear the Lugo A talkgroup, this is over a 3 month period and 24 hours per day.

 

[tkenny53]

I was listening the other day, these guy when they start talking , go on at a rate of speed speech, they talk a million words a second

 

[es93546]

I was listening the other day, these guy when they start talking , go on at a rate of speed speech, they talk a million words a second

They are voicing the procedures they are following to connect and reconnect electrical circuits on the distribution system. Each customer is on a circuit that might cover several square miles. I think they are both working from computer screen displays showing all the switches, transformers and other devices on a circuit. The procedure is necessary for preventing the various power paths in a circuit and to make sure that every path is restored once they have completed work and all personnel are clear of every conductor (power line) to ensure all customers have their service restored. In a lot of cases they reroute power during maintenance and damage repairs when it is an option, so as to minimize the number of customers left without service during the work. You hear things, like "Lugo, 9967, on the Blue Ridge circuit, we have closed pole switch 2055677E, along with closing gas switch 55698E, restoring power to pad mount 953697, resetting drop 113687, and completing phase route 55812120, completing all repairs to the 12KV Snowdrift loop." The controller at the substation then punches in commands on a keyboard that shows the various components to display differently on his screen, which in turn shows that everything is restored properly or in the case of shutoffs for maintenance or repairs shows that certain components of a circuit are shut off or open in power utility talk and that power can't loop around back to the people working on the various components of a circuit. There is obviously zero tolerance for accidents to personnel if a line is recharged while work is done on components of the grid.

I've listened to other electrical utility providers and heard similar procedures and lingo. Somewhere in my files I have a glossary of all electrical utility terms that helps me understand what is being talked about. This includes the term "open," which means a electrical path has been turned off and "closed" which means a path has been turned on. All of electrical engineering design uses the same references when speaking of turning something on and off, so it is not unique to electrical utilities.

They speak rapidly because they are reading displays for verification. They do sound like Chick Hearn calling a Lakers game or the dispatchers for the L.A. County sheriff's office, especially back when they were on low band, with a small number of frequencies available. I've forgotten the numbers associated with the discussion of human speech, with our brains being able to comprehend speech at a far greater speed than the speed most people speak at. This explains why our minds often wander when listening to people. I've listened to presentations where the speaker was approaching the maximum rate and if your mind wandered, you missed a great deal.

 

[inigo88]

Utilities also have checklists and scripts they read verbatim on the radio for lock out/tag out procedures to promote safety. I get the impression they all have them committed to memory hence the fast delivery.

 

[es93546]

Utilities also have checklists and scripts they read verbatim on the radio for lock out/tag out procedures to promote safety. I get the impression they all have them committed to memory hence the fast delivery.

I find them interesting to listen to. This especially when we have a roaring snowstorm and some outages. Those guys drive a tracked snow vehicle that is equipped with a bucket so they can get up to repair broken cross arms and such. They are out doing this in conditions I would consider dangerous. I should know as I worked in nearly all weather conditions for the USFS. Mono County has posted maps for all the circuits in the county, so it is easier to figure out what is going on. They have unique terminology, as expected, and some Google searching led me to a glossary published by some type of industry group. I also found a glossary of ski area terminology that helps me figure out the traffic on the Mammoth Mountain/June Mountain trunked systems.