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What is this and should I be afraid of it?
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tightsocks
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Jan 8, 2012, 05:15 PM
 
I'm pretty sure it is an electric sub-station, although those things in the lower left corner kinda look like they could be pipes or something...

Either way, is this place dangerous to folks who happen to live nearby??

As far as I know, I don't have schizophrenia, but I can't help but worry about the EMF that this could be putting out...
Also, there looks to be a fairly substantial radio tower in the upper left area - microwave perhaps??

     
boy8cookie
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Jan 8, 2012, 05:36 PM
 
Just put on your tinfoil hat and you'll be fine.
     
BLAZE_MkIV
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Jan 8, 2012, 05:44 PM
 
If twas actually an issue there would have been signs 40 years ago. Find a local tech collage and take a course in E/M
     
ghporter
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Jan 8, 2012, 06:36 PM
 
Looks like a fair-sized electrical distribution substation. Nothing to get in a sweat over. Google Maps let me look the place over thoroughly; nothing much but transformers and conductors. Also, note the distance between all the exposed electrical stuff and everything else; that's way farther than you might need to worry about from a huge arc, let alone electromagnetic interference.

P.S.: "EMF" stands for "elrectromotive force." That's the force that allows electricity to do physical work. It's not something that can scramble your brains.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jan 8, 2012, 06:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
P.S.: "EMF" stands for "elrectromotive force."
Measured in S.I. lax, presumably.

As in "California's prune farms have a combined yearly production output of 6.8 gigalax. That some serious elrectomotive power."
     
chabig
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Jan 8, 2012, 06:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
"EMF" stands for "elrectromotive force." That's the force that allows electricity to do physical work. It's not something that can scramble your brains.
EMF can also be used for Electromagnetic Field.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Jan 8, 2012, 07:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by chabig View Post
EMF can also be used for Electromagnetic Field.
To people who do those kinds of calculations it almost always means Electro Motive Force. Its used to mean EM Field by mostly non-scientists and most frequently of all by the tin foil hat brigade.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
The Godfather
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Jan 8, 2012, 07:36 PM
 
It has always been electromagnetic force, not field. A field is a concept that applies to a space that does not always produce a force. A force is something that will produce acceleration on something or deliver energy on something else, like a coil.
You can say EMF field, because that force exists in a volume, but you can never say that EMF means electromagnetic field.
Electromagnetic field has the unfortunate unmarketable name "B"
     
ghporter
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Jan 8, 2012, 07:37 PM
 
Further, the type of electromagnetic field is important, typically discussed in terms of the frequency or frequencies (or more generally the frequency band, I.e. "infrared" or "gamma radiation").

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
The Godfather
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Jan 8, 2012, 08:16 PM
 
In addition to the spectral region an electromagnetic wave belongs to, the amount of exposure is always ignored by tinfoil hatters. UV rays can cause skin cancer, same as your bathroom infrared heater, as long as you take some medically accepted exposure and your DNA is unfortunate enough.

I would be surprised if i see one health insurance fine print that disqualifies you from leukemia coverage just for living near a substation.
( Last edited by The Godfather; Jan 8, 2012 at 08:24 PM. )
     
tightsocks  (op)
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Jan 8, 2012, 10:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
It's not something that can scramble your brains.
This is my main concern.
And also fire...
     
tightsocks  (op)
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Jan 8, 2012, 10:46 PM
 
Also, what would a power substation use the microwave dish for?
     
Waragainstsleep
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Jan 8, 2012, 10:46 PM
 
You don't often see fields labelled according to spectral region. Waves and radiation yes, fields, no. Especially fields generated by currents in electrical equipment. EM waves can be modelled as oscillations in perpendicular electric and magnetic fields but as mentioned people who talk about EM fields don't tend to know that, let alone understand what it means.

Anyhow, electrical substations don't typically give off gamma waves so we might be getting a bit far off topic here
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
ghporter
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Jan 9, 2012, 07:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by tightsocks View Post
Also, what would a power substation use the microwave dish for?
Remote monitoring and management. A microwave dish like that is almost certainly for a relatively short-range circuit, as one for longer ranges would be placed much higher off the ground. It is astoundingly cheaper to put in a single, point-to-point microwave link than to run a dedicated copper link (that is almost certainly leased), and particularly so in a city.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
olePigeon
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Jan 9, 2012, 01:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by tightsocks View Post
Either way, is this place dangerous to folks who happen to live nearby??
No. Well, unless you stand too close when this happens.
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
     
The Final Dakar
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Jan 9, 2012, 01:50 PM
 
Originally Posted by tightsocks View Post
I
Quite clearly, you have found internet.

The internet is a series of tubes, right?
     
andi*pandi
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Jan 9, 2012, 02:57 PM
 
Take your camera and walk up to the gates and take pictures. If no SWAT team swoops down on you then it's safe.
     
olePigeon
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Jan 9, 2012, 03:02 PM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
Remote monitoring and management. A microwave dish like that is almost certainly for a relatively short-range circuit, as one for longer ranges would be placed much higher off the ground. It is astoundingly cheaper to put in a single, point-to-point microwave link than to run a dedicated copper link (that is almost certainly leased), and particularly so in a city.
I used to work at Sierra College near Sacramento. They have two campuses, one in in Rocklin and the other in Roseville. They're about 10 miles apart, but have direct LOS. The two campuses are linked with a microwave dish.
"…I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than
you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods,
you will understand why I dismiss yours." - Stephen F. Roberts
     
tightsocks  (op)
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Jan 9, 2012, 03:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
Take your camera and walk up to the gates and take pictures. If no SWAT team swoops down on you then it's safe.
LOL!
Actually, I'm thinking of walking around it while holding a fluorescent tube bulb.
What are the chances that it would light-up???
     
SpaceMonkey
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Jan 9, 2012, 06:10 PM
 
It looks like an action movie set.

"One ticket to Washington, please. I have a date with destiny."
     
   
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