(3) Three Live Alligators found in southern section of City Of Pittsburgh in past few weeks what is going on?

At first 9-11 operators thought some one was fooling with them when they revived a call on a sunny afternoon from the south side that a live 3 foot alligator was sunning itself on the river bank.
But it was no joke it was a live alligator which are nt found naturally in Pa. the climate is too cold for them.

https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/alligator-captured-at-south-side-riverfront-park/950415557

More than likely it was a pet that got too big and was let loose instead of being turned into humane society. Probably because it was obtained illegally with out a  exotic pet permit from state game commission.

Alligator found in Carrick

I remember in the 90's giving a Pet Shop owner on Butler Street  in Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh an estimate for an alarm system and he had alligators in store you could legally buy
I asked him how do you keep them from getting so big and he said you limit feeding them . He had one almost 4 ft long which was very mean he said he was shipping back to  a game reserve in Florida to be released .
Which is how you are suppose to properly  dispose of them but if you bought it illegal in first place disposing of them is exactly what some people do they just let them go and figure it will die come winter.
Few years back they claimed there was an alligator in the Beaver Run Dam system in Westmoreland County which I wrote about and was never seen again.

So everyone laughed it off OK one gator found no big deal but then a 2nd one was found in city's Brookline neighborhood

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/pittsburgh-police-apprehend-alligator-roaming-city-streets

and now a 3rd in Carrick  found this evening

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2019/06/08/alligator-found-in-carrick/

So what the hell is going on ? Police say the 3 cases are not related but 3 in same geological area makes you wonder if some one did not dispose of their collection and more than likely they belonged to a drug dealer now in jail and people did not want to deal with them and dumped them.  If this is the case how many more are roaming around putting the public and especially small children at risk.

Luckily no one has been hurt but its just a matter of time till some one is

Just like in the mountain lion and black panther cases it appears an irresponsible individual has released the alligators but in this case we have proof positive. 

Exotic animals being owned  in Pa is big business  and First responders need to be on guard when responding to calls at private homes and abandonedbuildings you nevr know what you may find.

A woman was keeping Pitt Bulls  in a home across from my mom and only coming to feed them every couple days till humane agents responded and this goes on everywhere. 

Be careful out there.

A new way Verizon is backing up its FiOs Phone Service with D Cell Batteries but is it better than old way?

I have had  Verizon Fios service in my home since it first came into my neighborhood in early 2007 its been a fantastic service  but I maintained my old POTS telephone hard line copper service  due to keeping old alarm systems controlled over dial up modems and having to dial into Radio Station transmit sites I maintain  but of course times have changed. not necessarily for the better

But even thou id did not use the Fios phone service I had a 12 volt 7 amp battery  which would keep the phone service on incase I had it like my Neighbors did and it worked well you could get upto 24 hours of phone service if power went out .

Problem thou is easy access to them and the cost about $24.95-43.95 depending where you got it
they would work 3-5 years and you would get a beep at  main box and LED light would come on letting you know if battery went dead.

But sadly copper lines are being turned off and removed in my neighborhood so I had to go with Fios Phone . Not the problem it once was as most system today I control thru the Internet and do very little dial up. 

But one good thing with the copper always worked power or no power  and when internet was out I could still dial into some sites where a phone line is maintained and control it even if internet was out at the site.
But as more and more phone lines are going away I can no longer dial into 70% of sites I maintain.
There is a very big danger in everything going digital and cellular there is no back up which hardlines copper provided.

So I get my new Fios phone set up since copper is going away  and speeds have dramatically changed

with one big difference

The 12 volt 7 amp back up battery has been replaced with 12 D cell dry batteries.

still gives the 12 to 24 hr back up and much more convenient to change as may home owners have  D cells laying around compared to a large battery not as easy to obtain.

But the Unit appears to have no warning if batteries go dead that I see unless something pops up on your TV screen to warn you they are going dead.
So as we go forward are we really going backwards sure seems like it.
I have my fios system plugged into UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply Box  like those used to back up computers to help insure I have service during power outages but that only works if Verizon has properly maintained the batterys in their repeater boxes out on the street poles.

The problem being maintaining the Fios Fiber network has been more expensive than Verizon ever anticiapated so they re not expanding it and will they let it die like they have POTS Service ?
Verizon is under the gun right now from PA PUC over not getting after its many falling down and dis-repaired tel-co poles 

I eventually see Fios being replaced with the new 5G service once it is fully utilized but time will tell.
 Today it is more scary than ever how much technology is dependent on the internet  for control and how easily our entire country could be paralyzed by it unlike old copper hardware . 

I see it everyday when entire radio station networks in towns  can not transmit to radio towers cluster  they own  when internet goes out.

Repairing a 4 Tower AM Radio Station Transmission Site and its challenges

One of the stations I take care of WCNS 1480 AM /97.3 FM  In Latrobe  Pa. recently had an issue where it would not transfer from Night power to Day Power
due to an issue in one of the towers transmitter huts.

Seems one of the relays was stuck on the old C.S.P. tower controller that was made in Doylestown Pa. in the mid 80s for the station .

After some troubleshooting I determined a Relay which transfers the towers from 500 watts Omni-directional  pattern to 1000 watts north- south directional  had blown itself apart in Tower 1#
and this gear looks like something out of Frankenstein laboratory.

damaged unit

good unit

inside a transmitter hut

4 tower controller

OK no problem call C.S.P.  well they are no more they where purchased by a company called Phasetek I found out .
So I called up and talked to a nice gentleman named Kurt who told me the relays where still available . So I sent him a picture what I needed and my customer sent them $750.00 and we where in business in couple days in mean time locked the station in low power .
Unfortunately they shipped wrong voltage coils as voltages have changed over time from 120 VAC  I was using to 230 volts  but they sent correct ones out immediately and got it corrected

The other unfortunate part is over the years all manuals etc got lost at WCNS and the same happened with the manufacturer so its a case of having to reverse engineer all the wiring and controls to fix it when it goes down but thats part of the fun of my job and why I love doing what I do troubleshooting and re-engineering  equipment and keeping it running.

Looking for a rewarding Career Look into Broadcast Engineering 

Putting up a new steel building near Radio Towers? make sure you have coordinated with tower owners to not interfere or you could be in for a very big bill and possibly have to tear it down.

As a Contract Broadcast Engineer I have a AM Radio Station I maintain north of Pittsburgh
and one of the big issues with it is coordinating with persons putting up Steel buildings and towers near it now that the community is expanding.

A Volunteer fire company put up a new steel building and is interfering with my signal they will now have to pay to correct the situation besides the noise the LED lighting in their parking lot they are creating. 

https://www.lbagroup.com/blog/is-this-cell-tower-detuned/

http://ncjweb.com/features/novdec05feat.pdf

If you put up any type of metal building or tower within 1 mile of an AM Radio Station transmission site  you must under FCC rules coordinate with the station you could possibly interfere with  to make sure you do not reflect or deflect its signal path. If you do there are 2 remedy's

1- put in a network of De-tuning wires to  neutralise your building or tower  or

2- tear down and move your tower or building 

If you fail to do this the FCC can and will force you to comply plus there is a big fine $25,000.00 which goes with it.

Same goes for the lights they can put in a filter or turn off and replace all the lights.


A tower company in Texas was forced to tear down and move a tower after it interfered with an AM station several years ago.

Every architect and builder should be aware of and know rules of building around towers but there are always those who will plead ignorance of the rules and can end up costing them and their clients big bucks. and when it comes to the FCC you will lose every time you ignore rules and regulations.

.

What we have here is a Failure to Communicate. How Verizon FiOs failed and Napco Starlink came to the rescue when Fire Alarms would not send there signals.

Verizon Fios has proven to be a very good solid  digital telephone service I have several panels running on it with no issues and they report everyday to the central station.
But for some reason all of a sudden Fire Alarm panels on the 561 phone exchange in Mt Lebanon Pa. failed to take any format 4/2 , CID and SIA all of which had been working fine now could not send their alarm signals and Verizon had no answers as-usual . They where tearing all the copper phone lines out of Mt. Lebanon.
The problem seems to be with the make break timing of the touchstones and how fast they are dialed

This meant one choice switching the panels over to Cellular Communicators But Honeywell as usual is behind the 8 Ball with its IPGSM4G communicators not ready for 4GLTE  and I was not spending $400.00 and then having to change them in 2 years when 4G-HPSA and 3G are going away so what to do?

The answer an unique and quick and easy product to hook up under $200 made by Napco and made in USA to boot.

The LTE Starlink.
 a simple 4 wire connection 2 wires for power from panel either 12 or 24 VDC and 2 wires for the phone dialer to hook to .

There on the Verizon Mobile network and they are solid performers there is even a $100.00 rebate program offered
and it works with all panels that do CID and 4/2 formats . and its Sole Path UL listed  which is fantastic. Small simple and no seperate plug in transformer like you have with Honeywell.

So needless to say the (4) IPGSM4G I have in current use in Mt Lebanon- Dormont area  will be replaced shortly as they will be going obsolete.

Napco is putting a big hurt on many cellular communicator manufacturers who  missed the boat .

Plus they have models that work for Mercantile /Fire  and dual path communicators to meet any need.

Plus an even bigger bonus you can often save money over dial up service where you are paying for dedicated phone lines like in apartment buildings and Offices with IP phone systems .  The cell service plans are cheaper than maintaining 2 phone lines just for the fire system 

check them out  at. 

https://www.napcosecurity.com/starlink/#commercial-fire-communicators

Selenium Rectifiers an old fashioned way to convert AC power to DC power that are still out there and more dangerous as they grow older

Before modern Zener and other diodes came on the market and where used in a Bridge Rectifier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfWmIQfYIRI

 

 Configuration to convert AC to Dc Power there was the Selenium Rectifier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenium_rectifier

A metal device with fins coated with Selinium which was used in all kind of applications from simple radios and toy train layouts  to large industrial machines 

 They where used in products up till the late 60s as they where very dependable and could handle higher voltages better than previous copper oxide rectifiers developed in early 30's 

Unfortunately with age these rectifiers break down and can give off extremely toxic gases  due to Nickel and Selenium plating and there are still plenty of them I come across in old fire alarms and industrial machines and old tube radios people love to collect .

I try to change them out with modern units where I can to keep an old machine running safely but its not always easy to match everything up. 

Plus radio purest when restoring radios want to keep everything original. 

So should I be worried if I have them in my bussiness or home.

Yes there is concern so know it can happen and have a plan in place should one brake down and give off fumes immediately leave the room and ventilate the room  if possible and call 911  

this is a hazardous materials situation.

They may be neat to look at and are part of history but do so from a distance .