I'm a retired electric utility communications technician. "My"
utility has used smart meter technology to read meters for a
number of years. My gas and electric meters are on the outside
wall of my shack and I've not been aware of any problem, either
to or from the meters.
There are a number of methods in use to read meters, but in
the case here, a meter reader drives a vehicle along the road,
"pinging" meters via UHF radio to collect data that is used to
compute the monthly billing.
See:
https://www.itron.com/Pages/default.aspx for more.
Itron is a large provider of smart meter technology located
in Spokane, WA.
Trivia: The extensive information on the ARRL site ignores ...
or the writer isn't aware ... that PLC / "carrier current" is widely
used, and has been for decades. It uses frequencies in the 50
to 400 kHz range and often spans hundreds of miles for control
between switch yards, control centers, etc. The typical power
levels are in the 10 watt range, but can switch to several hundred
watts to force a signal through the line noise of a switching event.
Large RF chokes, several feet in diameter, used to keep PLC
signals off lines where they aren't used, can be seen suspended
many switch yards and sub-stations.
My utility initially used surplus WWII Navy TBL/TBK and RBK/RBK
equipment for PLC, and many years ago I bought a RBL receiver
still in the crate when the company disposed of this old equipment.
To directly answer the initial question of interference from smart
meters, I'm not aware of any ... in our case, at least.
73!
Ken Kopp - K0PP
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