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TVA's Power Plans Pan Out
 The Tennessee Valley Authority took a leap of faith a few years ago by committing $1.8 billion to refurbish and re-start their Browns Ferry-1 nuclear plant. POWERnews says that they made the right move as rising natural gas and coal prices have reduced the project payback from eight to five years.
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Ethanol a Corny Hoax?
 The energy consumed by the process of turning corn into fuel is so great that ethanol production is not economically feasible without government subsidies. But this ISA article posits a solution that reduces operating costs of corn-based bio-ethanol plants by more than 60%, according to chemical engineers at Carnegie Mellon University.
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Cheap Connectors Cause Problems
 This Control Design article helps you to select and install the right connectors for industrial Ethernet and other digital networks. Office-grade connectors are cheap but won't hold up in plant floor environments. Industrial-grade connectors are designed to cope with solvents, fumes, vibration, abrasion, sunlight, crushing forces, electrical noise, and extreme heat or cold.
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Relays Go Digital
 As reported by ElectricNet, the Newton-Evans Research Company recently released a survey on worldwide use of protective relays in electric power. Total sales are 1.5 billion U.S. dollars and will approach two billion dollars by 2009. Highlights of the study findings include a move to digital relays and the emergence of Chinese competitors.
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Visual Communications Company, Inc.
Need to Mount an LED?
LED mounting hardware, light pipes, lenses, and cable assemblies. We have thousands of parts, and combinations which will meet your exacting requirements. Moisture sealed Lenses and light pipes, IR mounts, solderless replaceable LED sockets, and more.
Need to design an LED cable socket? Follow the instructions to design your own LED socket cable assembly.
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Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
Are You Using UL-Recognized Components?
End-product manufacturers that sell products in North America favor UL-Recognized components as a way to streamline their product's certification process and speed-to-market. UL Marks are readily accepted by: OEMs, retailers, consumers, and other U.S. and Canadian third-party certification organizations.
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Liberty Electronics, Inc.
Industry Leader in Highly Reliable Contract Manufacturing
Specializing in the manufacture of electronic wire harnesses, molded cable assemblies, and electro-mechanical subassemblies.
Liberty complies with the most stringent military and best commercial practice requirements for electronics assembly, and has a proven track record of program cost savings and reliability improvement solutions.
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FLIR Systems Inc.
Buy a ThermaCAM® P640 Value Package and Save Over $7,000!
With this limited time offer, you'll get:
• High Definition P640 infrared camera
• Professional-Grade Software
• Two batteries
• 12 V DC adapter
• Your choice of certified infrared training or admission to the world's largest infrared applications conference, InfraMation 2007!
New to infrared? Check out our new low cost, high quality InfraCAM SD! |
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Fishy Sensors
 Biological engineering found in various organisms far exceeds human efforts. Realizing this, many research scientists look to the animal world for technical solutions. A professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is developing an artificial lateral line for underwater vehicles that emulates the specialized vibration sensing organs found on fish.
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RFID vs The Wall Street Journal
 A recent Wall Street Journal article highlights problems with Wal-Mart's RFID program, but RFID Journal conducts interviews and reviews case studies that show RFID fulfilling its promise for Wal-Mart and for some of its major suppliers. For example, Wal-Mart has used RFID to reduce out-of-stock items by as much as 60%.
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Dumb Contactor Trumps Smart Meter
 Smart metering is an expensive way to smooth electricity demand. Southern California Edison has come up with a much simpler program. They just install a radio-controlled contactor that turns off the 24 VDC signal from your thermostat to your central A/C unit. You get $200, and they cut peak summer electricity demand.
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Circuit Breaker/Ammeter Combo
 When there is a problem with a circuit breaker, one of the first troubleshooting steps is to measure the amperage. But it can be difficult to connect an ammeter with a circuit breaker in place. FreshPatents.com discusses a patent application for a combined circuit breaker and ammeter that addresses this common problem.
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Amperite Co.
DFS Series Solid AC and DC Flashers
Amperite introduces fixed rate Flashers available from 1-1000 flashes per minute. They are 100% Solid State with no moving parts and suitable for incandecent and inductive loads. They are rated at 3 and 12 amperes and numerous custom voltages are available. We also customize Flashers and Time Delay Relays suited for your application.
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Smith Systems Inc.
Model #005-233 Standard Passive Speed Sensor
High output, high sensitivity, passive speed sensors convert mechanical motion to A/C voltage without an external power source. These self-contained magnetic sensors produce a magnetic field which, when in the proximity of ferrous objects in motion, generate a voltage. Learn more.
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Dice
Re-Engineer Your Career
DiceEngineering.com offers thousands of high quality engineering jobs at top technology and engineering companies — jobs for Electrical Test Engineers, Board Level Designers, and Electronic Technicians.
At DiceEngineering.com, you can:
- Find jobs in your area of expertise
- Post your resume and let employers find you
Search now.
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What Events Advance Your Career?
 Control magazine looks at the state of tradeshows and other events in the process control industry. Spurred by young engineers and technicians, the market is changing dramatically as traditional tradeshows die. What events can compete when end users can get high-quality information in flexible formats freely via the Web?
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Power to the People
Tremendous innovation has occurred over the last 50 years in the power supply industry including efficiencies approaching 100% and the adoption of digital power. Take a walk down memory lane with this Power Electronics Technology article that acknowledges and recognizes the people and the companies that built the modern power supply industry.
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