Voicy does Norway

Sysem said:
Something I've noticed here in Helsinki too. Drivers actually drive properly. Stay at the speed limits (usually not driving slow either), stop at pedestrian crossings etc.
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Same here for the most past. When I lived in SA I would think nothing about speeding. Here (UK) I"m paranoid, never go over 75 (mph). Limit is 70. Points based system here so if you keep speeding eventually you will lose your license (apart from the fines)
 
gregmcc said:
Same here for the most past. When I lived in SA I would think nothing about speeding. Here (UK) I"m paranoid, never go over 75 (mph). Limit is 70. Points based system here so if you keep speeding eventually you will lose your license (apart from the fines)
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Live a little :p cops won’t pull you below 80, cameras are only active at 10%+2, so 79.
 
Sysem said:
Something I've noticed here in Helsinki too. Drivers actually drive properly. Stay at the speed limits (usually not driving slow either), stop at pedestrian crossings etc.
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Yeah it's refreshing. Also, considering my license cost me R45k to get, I'm in no rush to lose it. :p

Btw, you still owe us a "Sysem does Finland" thread...
 
Voicy .. :mad: there has been much abuse aimed at you in the WrG whatsapp group(it may or may not have come from me)
Pop in sometime and pretend you still like us :(
 
Voicy said:
Yeah it's refreshing. Also, considering my license cost me R45k to get, I'm in no rush to lose it. :p

Btw, you still owe us a "Sysem does Finland" thread...
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I'm not in an exciting field like yourself, so my content wouldn't be great :p
 
Idiosyncratic said:
Even just everyday life where you're at would be interesting to read about though - differences you may take for granted we may find incredibly intriguing
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For example, what do the ladies look like there. I've heard they are all albinos! :p
 
Sorry for the radio silence, forgot about this thread for a while.

This was Thursday evening:

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We've had some crazy aurora as well, but with work I haven't been able to stay in the same area long enough to get proper pics.

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Heading back to SA this week for a bit of a holiday and need a break from work. We've been pushing it hard lately. Here's the biggest headache/gen I've programmed and commissioned yet. 2295kVA, V16, Quad Turbo...and it ran unstable. Started shaking the concrete foundation on the first few attempts. Was a bit scary if I'm honest.

9849bcf2-2856-4b53-b149-6e5956ff41c4.jpg
 
V16 quad turbo, that's a beast, I'd also be interested to know what the issue was, maybe the drive shaft alignment to the generator not 100%?
 
furpile said:
That is pretty big. What was the problem with it?
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airborne said:
V16 quad turbo, that's a beast, I'd also be interested to know what the issue was, maybe the drive shaft alignment to the generator not 100%?
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Hehe they aren't small no. If I stand next to it the cylinders are probably in line with the top of my head (5'10").


Problem with these big engines is they don't use normal "piskriek" analog speed regulators which you can tune in by ear with a small screwdriver. It uses a big digital speed reg that wasn't programmed correctly.

So the gain was fine for isolated operation but shot through the roof as soon as I synchronized it with the mains (2x 1600kVA transformers in parallel) causing it to run VERY unstable and export from 100 to a few thousand amps onto the grid every other second.

So at the end we had to buy a plugin programmer to tune the gain and stability etc.

I also just recently programmed and commission a plant that runs 3 of these V16 generators (slightly lower kVA rating) in parallel, that was quite a head scratcher and made me have to revisit old logic gates math from my diploma days. :o

Not sure what's considered boring to post on here. Tried to cover all ockie's "show us normal life" questions. So lemme know if you folks have any odd bits you wondered about
 
Voicy said:
Hehe they aren't small no. If I stand next to it the cylinders are probably in line with the top of my head (5'10").


Problem with these big engines is they don't use normal "piskriek" analog speed regulators which you can tune in by ear with a small screwdriver. It uses a big digital speed reg that wasn't programmed correctly.

So the gain was fine for isolated operation but shot through the roof as soon as I synchronized it with the mains (2x 1600kVA transformers in parallel) causing it to run VERY unstable and export from 100 to a few thousand amps onto the grid every other second.

So at the end we had to buy a plugin programmer to tune the gain and stability etc.

I also just recently programmed and commission a plant that runs 3 of these V16 generators (slightly lower kVA rating) in parallel, that was quite a head scratcher and made me have to revisit old logic gates math from my diploma days. :o

Not sure what's considered boring to post on here. Tried to cover all ockie's "show us normal life" questions. So lemme know if you folks have any odd bits you wondered about
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hold up, you are in SA, what part of SA, because you are one person I would love to have a beer with, and I dont even drink.
 
Voicy, your main job seams to be commissioning generators and by the sounds of it you are working for Norway's Aishkom or a contractor doing work for them.
Why so many generators on their power grid, are these natural gas generators esentialy acting as power stations all around the country or how does it work?
 
bigboy529 said:
Voicy, your main job seams to be commissioning generators and by the sounds of it you are working for Norway's Aishkom or a contractor doing work for them.
Why so many generators on their power grid, are these natural gas generators esentialy acting as power stations all around the country or how does it work?
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Not exactly no. We supply, commission (install, program, startup, test, train staff) generators from 10kVA up to 2500kVA etc. to just about any customer across the country. Due to weather and mountains and all sorts, the grid can get a bit dicey.

We cover a lot of salmon farms, hospitals and comms departments and some stuff I'm not at liberty to discuss, but it keeps us busy. Even while typing this I'm on 24/7 telephone standby for the week...and as Murphy would have it, it always rings between 2-4am if there's crappy weather like today.

gens.JPG

We're not using natural gas gens, mostly diesel in 400V or 230V configs but about 98% of electricity production here happens through hydro-electric plants so make of that what you will. We do however have some jennies that run 24/7 on remote islands (and in Antarctica) where there is no natural power grid.

There is no "Eskom" over here. Power Utilities are fully privatised and compete for clients quite severely, resulting in some good deals all over. You can buy power from any company anywhere and then only pay the "line rental" side of things to the local company who provided the infrastructure.

Even my fiber line and TV package is installed and operated by the local power company. Since I use them for electricity, internet and TV you get better deals and I'm no effectively paying the same for 300Mbps fiber as I did for line and cap (no caps here) in SA.

Shameless showoff of the line now. (Worst part is I had this line for 2 months now but kept operating at 100Mbps because my network switch couldn't handle more)

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Ahoy!!!
Voicy...

Good to hear you are well.

"Kick 'em inna panty."

Regards
 
So we got a bit of snow over the weekend.

Took a while to dig the work bakkie out this morning.

snow.jpg
 
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