ADSL Connectivity And Load Shedding

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Future_Trader

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With load shedding a real possibility again, does anybody know whether Telkom's exchanges have standby power? What I would like to know is whether buying a UPS for my PC and ADSL modem would keep me connected during blackouts.

During the previous round of load shedding in 2008, I noticed that my telephone line's voice channel continued to work during all of the blackouts, so there must be some backup power supply at least for the voice channels. I could not test the ADSL connection though as I don't have a UPS. So I guess my question really is: Is there power backup for the ADSL equipment on the exchanges too? Is the situation the same for all exchanges or does it vary from exchange to exchange?

Telkom could probably tell me if I could get in touch with the right person, but I thought I'd ask here first.
 
Telkom has it's own power for the lines. This has been like this for-ever. You can even sneak out 12v on there for your own needs. You can go buy a UPS for your PC and router and you can still watch porn during blackouts, so don't worry
 
Also banking on this, getting a UPS and a generator.
 
AcidRaZor said:
Telkom has it's own power for the lines. This has been like this for-ever. You can even sneak out 12v on there for your own needs. You can go buy a UPS for your PC and router and you can still watch porn during blackouts, so don't worry
Click to expand...
Its actually 50 volts DC, so he could power quite a few gadgets :whistle:
 
Back some years ago during the first round of load shedding, 2 - 3 hours each, I ran on generator, pc's all up, routers running and downloads not missing a beat. So our local exchange at least must have plenty of backup power. They do have an old diesel set in the yard, but I went past a few times during load shedding and it was never running. I have to assume it's all battery-powered in the exchange then. The local (one and only in this town) vodacom / mtn / cell c tower kept voice comms up all through the blackouts, but 3G disappeared about a half hour into each blackout. That was a few years ago, so maybe they've made other plans in the meantime.

We've also had a few sundays where eskom has cut our power for 14 hours at a time for infrastructure upgrades, and same again, I run on diesel and the downloads keep going right through. Nice and fast too, as I'm the only one in town with interwebs :)

Sedgefield, Western Cape, this is, btw.
 
MickeyD said:
@Grouter: the diesel generator(s) will charge the batteries in the power room, when required.
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Perhaps, but this baby, she's an OLD genny. I think it's a 60's vintage V8 Detroit Diesel. I've lived here over 20 years and NEVER heard it run, and never seen it being opened up or serviced. The exhaust outlets are washed clean by the rain - no soot on them, nothing. It sits forlorn in the middle of the lawn in front of the exchange.

So the battery banks inside must be quite substantial.

(I used to be a Marine Diesel Engineer in a past life...)
 
Grouter said:
Perhaps, but this baby, she's an OLD genny. I think it's a 60's vintage V8 Detroit Diesel. I've lived here over 20 years and NEVER heard it run, and never seen it being opened up or serviced. The exhaust outlets are washed clean by the rain - no soot on them, nothing. It sits forlorn in the middle of the lawn in front of the exchange.

So the battery banks inside must be quite substantial.

(I used to be a Marine Diesel Engineer in a past life...)
Click to expand...

I'm thinking runaway diesel when it should start...
 
Grouter said:
Perhaps, but this baby, she's an OLD genny. I think it's a 60's vintage V8 Detroit Diesel. I've lived here over 20 years and NEVER heard it run, and never seen it being opened up or serviced. The exhaust outlets are washed clean by the rain - no soot on them, nothing. It sits forlorn in the middle of the lawn in front of the exchange.

So the battery banks inside must be quite substantial.

(I used to be a Marine Diesel Engineer in a past life...)
Click to expand...
The new one could be in the exchange itself... will find out for you.
 
Nether said:
Also banking on this, getting a UPS and a generator.
Click to expand...

Tried using a generator during the last rolling backups and gave up with it after a week, couldn’t stand the noise - it's not that it's loud but just plain irritating when you’re trying to concentrate in a home office environment (it was situated outside, the other side of a brick wall).

Eventually went the deep cycle battery/inverter route for my sanity.
 
MickZA said:
Eventually went the deep cycle battery/inverter route for my sanity.
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Exactly, if there are serious blackouts this winter I'm planning on running my laptop and routers on a 102ah deep cycle battery, 250w solar panel, 1000W Cotek inverter and a 20A charge controller. Much cleaner and less noisy than a generator. Should have plenty to spare to keep the TV and DSTV going too for a few hours.
 
MickZA said:
Tried using a generator during the last rolling backups and gave up with it after a week, couldn’t stand the noise - it's not that it's loud but just plain irritating when you’re trying to concentrate in a home office environment (it was situated outside, the other side of a brick wall).

Eventually went the deep cycle battery/inverter route for my sanity.
Click to expand...

I have a 16 Kva water-cooled 4 Cylinder Deutz / Lombardini in a dedicted sound-proofed housing, underground muffler system and enough sound insulation so that you don't know it's running except by looking at the voltmeter. Way to go. Oh, and a 200 litre tank for diesel. It uses about .8 of a litre an hour and can run the entire house, geyser, stove, lights and pc's and barely raises a sweat.

And I've just counted how many ups' are in the house - 8. Eskom, do thy worst.
 
Hi There,
To confirm during load shedding you will still have ADSL connectivity.

As far as keeping the PC on why not consider a solar powered option to charge a battery? Quieter than a generator.

Regards

Tim
 
Thanks for the good news guys, I think I'll first get an inexpensive UPS just to protect me from those sudden blackouts (~20 - 30 mins backup time). This gives me time to research a solution that will bridge most load shedding shutdowns. In 2008 these blackouts were about 2 hours long, but seldom any longer than that.
 
Future_Trader said:
Thanks for the good news guys, I think I'll first get an inexpensive UPS just to protect me from those sudden blackouts (~20 - 30 mins backup time). This gives me time to research a solution that will bridge most load shedding shutdowns. In 2008 these blackouts were about 2 hours long, but seldom any longer than that.
Click to expand...

Ours were 4 hours long! :mad:
 
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