Apr. 16, 2014 @ 12:00 AM

HUNTINGTON -- The Cabell County Board of Education voted to approve more than $10,000 in changes to the school system's newest facilities during the board's regular meeting Tuesday.

Approximately $9,221 in change orders for Huntington East Middle School and another $1,699 for the school system's new transportation garage in Lesage were approved during the meeting at the Cabell County Schools central office.

The change orders call for installation of blinds for privacy in the school's health clinic, the installation of wire raceways for wiring and fire caulking for the window blinds in the art room at the school, and the addition of loose furnishings, including waste baskets and other non-furniture items, said Mike O'Dell, assistant superintendent of operations.

He said the Huntington East projects are minor projects that either failed to receive bids during the initial bidding process, or they were needs that were not clarified in the original bids.

The funding for those projects will come from the contingency fund for the school's construction, in which there is a little more than $50,000 remaining, O'Dell said.

He also said the installation of an aluminum security door for the outside aluminum access ladder to the roof of the transportation garage in Lesage was needed to prevent anyone from accessing the facility's roof.

The funding for that project also comes from the contingency fund for the garage's construction, which was less than $10,000 at last check, O'Dell said.

The board also considered revisions to the Cabell County Schools Policy Manual, a measure which was on first reading during the meeting, so the board did not take any action.

The proposed changes would put the manual in line with state code and measures that were passed by the West Virginia Legislature last year, said Todd Alexander assistant superintendent.

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Projects at East Middle OK'd

Bentek 2350 Harris Way San Jose, CA, 95131, USA

SAN JOSE, CA Bentek Solar, manufacturer of a broad range of products connecting PV panels to inverters worldwide for the residential, commercial and utility-scale marketplaces, has started shipping the second generation Fused Disconnect Safety System (FDSS).

Bentek Solar continues to add to its broad range of residential, commercial and utility-scale safety systems with the new 1000VDC Utility-Scale FDSS 2. The FDSS 2 builds on the success of the FDSS 1 by providing customers with up to 24 inputs with a total system capacity of 4800 Amps.The FDSS 2 also complies with the NEC 2011 disconnect requirements ensuring customers safe access to service inverter fuses, said John H. Buckley, Executive Sales and Marketing for Bentek Solar.

The FDSS 2 provides: Recombining of up to 24 1000VDC inputs into one common bus ouput Visible blade disconnect for an extra level of safety for all incomming PV arrays Common output hardbuss bar for easy installation with utility-scale inverters. Bentek Zone current monitoring Optional heater and ventilation systems for variable climates

For more information about the capabilities on the FDSS 2 please contact Bentek at 1-866-505-0303 or visit http://www.BentekSolar.com.

About Bentek Solar Founded in 1985, Bentek is a leader in engineered electromechanical and power distribution solutions for industrial applications. Bentek designs and manufactures products such as wiring harnesses, electrical combiner boxes, and custom OEM assemblies for the solar energy and semiconductor markets. Bentek is an ISO certified company. For more information, contact Bentek Solar at 866-505-0303, e-mail SolarSales@bentek.com or visit http://www.BentekSolar.com.

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Fused Disconnect Safety System serves solar applications.

Bryce Theriot, 17, wires an outlet box Monday in the electrical program at Terrebonne Career and Technical High School in Houma.

A year of hard work paid off for eight Terrebonne Career and Technical High School students who competed at this years Skills USA competition in New Orleans last week.

Skills USA is a student career and technical organization that allows competitors to show off a variety of occupational skills in hopes of winning gold medals in their category.

The local schools Skills USA chapter had 31 students competing at the state level, however, only eight will advance to nationals in June to Kansas City, Mo.

Were going to nationals to represent the state of Louisiana, and those divisions are action skills, diesel equipment technology, carpentry, cabinet-making, air-conditioning, electrical constructional wiring and industrial motor controls, and mobile electronics installation, said electrical instructor Charlie Positerry.

Bryce Theriot, 17, is a junior at South Terrebonne High who won gold in electrical construction wiring. In this division, competitors must build two walls of electrical construction by reading a blueprint and a set of electrical specifications. Theriot had only seven hours to build the walls and install electrical boxes and wiring.

What challenged me was hooking up the devices themselves, not running the wire, so Im going to practice that and more grounding safety for nationals, he said.

Tyler Valure, 16, is also a South Terrebonne junior who won gold in his category, HVAC. Here, competitors must be able to braze and solder copper pipe, recover vacuum and recharge a refrigerant circuit along with calculating sub cooling and troubleshooting compressor electrical circuits.

I had to cut pieces of copper and braze them together, then sledge it so it would fit different sizes to wire up a circuit for a gas valve on a thermostat, Valure said. During the summer Id work with my dad on residential units. Ive never gotten to do it myself until now, but I use to observe a lot, he said.

Action skills was another division the Career and Technical High School Skills USA chapter won gold in. In this competition, the student must demonstrate a learned skill in which contestants use examples, experiments, displays or practical operations to clearly explain their skills along with using visual aids. H.L. Bourgeois student Sarah Henry, 15, performed her skill in just under seven minutes.

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Terrebonne students advance to national competition

Photo by Kathryn Crandall.

The five new solar panels on Kline Geology Laboratory may not be harvesting energy, but they could help reduce Yales energy bill.

On Friday, the members of Project Bright, an undergraduate organization dedicated to increasing the presence of solar power at Yale, began installing five solar panels on the roof of Kline Geology Laboratory (KGL) on Science Hill. The test installation features a solar panel from each of the five major types commercially available, allowing Project Bright to determine the panel most suited for the New Haven environment. The data can be presented to the Yale Office of Sustainability to inform their future solar initiatives, said the founder of Project Bright, Maddy Yozwiak 14.

There arent many other installations like this, which take the currently available technology and compare predicted performance with what happens on the ground, Yozwiak said. A lot of panel manufacturers release that information and its just taken for granted.

In 2011, Yozwiak proposed a student-led solar panel installation and received a three-year loan from the Yale Office of Sustainability intended to fund student projects that could decrease Yales electricity usage.

The original plan for the project called for the expansion of a currently existing solar installation on the roof of Swing Space. When this ultimately proved to be unfeasible, the team refined their plan to switch from a large energy-harvesting system to a smaller one that does not gather power, and only tests various solar panels. With the change of plans, Project Bright was no longer able to use the original loan, and instead received a grant from the the Yale Office of Sustainability, with additional support coming from the Yale Student Environmental Coalition, the Department of Geology and Geophysics and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Yozwiak said.

After scanning aerial maps of campus, the team chose KGL as the site of the installationfor safety reasons: Its flat, fenced-in roof was designed for geology students to carry out weather testing. The roof was already home to one solar panel, used to power weather instruments, and some pre-existing scaffolding. An installation this size would be sufficient to power a house, but not a large laboratory building like KGL said Sam Kaufman-Martin 15, installations and assessments leader for Project Bright.

Trained students carried out the majority of the preparation and installation. The scaffolding to support the panels and the electrical wiring were designed by students, although it was challenging due to the lack of members with electrical experience, said Julia Zhuang 17, a member of Project Bright involved in the technical aspects of the installation. Advisors from Yale supplemented the students training, including Kevin Ryan and Glenn Weston-Murphy, research support specialists at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, respectively.

Initial planning and design were carried out during the fall term, parts were ordered before spring break and the installation began on Friday. The turnout for this culminating moment was impressive, said Tess Maggio 16, co-president of Project Bright.

It was a really exciting moment when we screwed in the first piece, Zhuang said. Its the product of all our work.

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Installation auditions solar panels

For many of us, our smartphones become the center of our lives, reminding us of appointments, keeping us up on the latest news, letting us know what friends are up to, telling us how to get to places, and even being a conduit to pay for products or services. At the same time, many new cars don't require a traditional key, instead letting us use a plastic fob transmitting an RF signal to unlock the doors and start the engine.

Viper, a company known for car alarm products, integrated the functions of that plastic fob into the phone, making one less thing to carry in your pocket.

As a new addition to Viper's alarm system, SmartKey works with the Viper Bluetooth module. With it, you can set your car to unlock the doors when you come within a set distance. Likewise, it will lock the doors when you leave the car's perimeter.

To test SmartKey, Viper installed the system in my car. Actually, Viper installed its Security system, SmartStart GPS module, and SmartStart Bluetooth module, all the components necessary to run SmartKey and some location features. There are quite few features beyond SmartKey in this system. It includes the basic whoop whoop car alarm (being a city dweller, I'm not a fan of this feature), remote engine start (not installed on my car because of its manual transmission), car locator, cloud-based remote unlocking, and geo-fencing.

An installer shop handled wiring the components throughout my car -- I just had to install the Viper app on my phone, sign up for an account, and pair my phone with the Viper Bluetooth module.

Setting up SmartKey involved a little extra trial and error, although a good shop will walk you through this procedure when you pick up your car after the installation. The Viper home screen, which shows lock and unlock buttons, includes a large Bluetooth icon in the upper left corner when the system is enabled. That button can also serve as a shortcut to turn off SmartKey, useful when you walk by your car but don't want it unlocked.

The proximity setting control for SmartKey is not very intuitive to use. Screenshot by Wayne Cunningham/CNET

Opening up the SmartKey screen, located in the setup menu for my specific car, I found a slider control with lock and unlock icons at each end. I could drag red and green dots along the slider to indicate at which distance I wanted SmartKey to automatically unlock or lock my car when my phone was in Bluetooth range.

This slider control is not all that intuitive to use, and it is difficult to differentiate the red and green dots when their positions overlap. Two separate sliders would be easier to use, something Viper could implement with a simple app update. I should also point out that I was testing SmartKey with beta software.

Setting the distance for SmartKey to unlock the doors involves a bit of trial-and-error, as there are no distance markings on the slider control. I spent a bit of time adjusting the slider, walking away from my car and then turning around and walking back to determine at what distance the doors unlocked. Getting that distance right will vary by your parking situation. If your driveway is next to your house, you might want to set a close proximity, otherwise your doors might unlock and lock every time you go in and out of the kitchen.

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Viper SmartKey unlocks cars with handsfree ease, but requires alarm

As the commercial and industrial demands for technology upgrades and data/voice cabling increases New York Network Cabling and Fiber Optic expands its area of service to include NJ, CT, and PA including Bridgeport, New Haven, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia.

New York, NY (PRWEB) - Office locations are opening rapidly and business's are expanding. In order to continue to provide the network cabling and fiber optic resources needed for its commercial and industrial customers New York Network Cabling and Fiber Optic has increased its network of highly trained voice and data cabling installers and fiber optic cabling technicians to provide structured cabling services throughout the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, including New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

New and existing customers are coming with high expectations and demands for high quality, high speed, flawless networks. Network wiring and server room installations are a key factor as a foundation for business. With the popularity of wireless networks for laptops and handheld devices, voice over IP phone systems which run over the internet, and IP camera surveillance systems that are viewable online, business owners and systems administrators understand the value of hiring an experienced, meticulous team of installers to design and pull the cable. New York Network Cabling has committing to this expansion in order to give business's the access to a premier network cabling contractor for office moves, network expansions, and multi location management.

New York Network Cabling offers installation of Cat5, Cat6, telephone, and fiber optic cable for office, retail, and industrial customers. As well as sales and installation of all telecommunications equipment including business phone systems, surveillance, wireless access points, racks and patch panels.

For more information or to request a quote about network cabling installation or fiber optic service visit them on the web at, http://www.newyorknetworkcabling.com/request-for-quote.aspx or speak to a representative directly about your scope of work at (917) 832-1520.

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New York Network Cabling And Fiber Optic Expands Its Telecommunications Service Area To Include New Jersey ...

Nest is finally launching its sleek Learning Thermostat in the UK, following a series of delays caused partly by our slightly awkward way of doing central heating in this country. It's simultaneously launched its first utility partnership in the UK with energy provider npower.

The Learning Thermostat has been available for some time in the US and Canada and has been widely praised both for its bold design and connectivity capabilities that allow users to remotely monitor and control the temperature in their house using an app.

Wired.co.uk has spent some brief hands-on time with the Nest and never imagined it would take such pleasure in using something as humdrum a thermostat. Two simple actions -- rotating it and gently pressing on it -- give you access to the full array of features, and even programming timers this way is astonishingly easy.

The thermostat was designed by Nest founder and CEO Tony Fadell, who previously worked for Apple on designing the iPod. Nest was sold to Google in January this year for $3.2 billion(1.9 billion), but the company is continuing with its mission of reinventing household tech and making it available across an open platform.

The UK market has proved tricky for Nest to wrap its head around, but that the company's had a jolly good crack at making its popular piece of kit work for us, redesigning both the hardware and the software of the thermostat so that it will fit in with our way of heating our abodes. Nest has integrated the programmer and the frostat into the thermostat itself and there's an extra piece of hardware that comes with it -- a heat link, which will turn off your boiler automatically when we turn the temperature down.

There are a range of differences between the way we heat homes to folks in the US: we use boilers instead of furnaces; we don't tend to require air conditioning (no need, believe it or not); we have no idea what our exact "comfort temperatures" are and tend to go with how we feel and our main expectation of our central heating systems is to be able to turn of the boiler at a preprogrammed time.

Nest sure has done its homework alright, but it's been a longstanding ambition of the company to expand into the UK, which is why when it launched the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector last autumn that it did so here at the same time as it launched in the US and Canada.

"With the UK Office of Gas and Electricity Markets saying that UK residents spend on average about 1,342 per year on energy, and heating responsible for over 60 percent of the bill, it's the perfect time to bring the Nest Learning Thermostat to the UK." said Lionel Paillet, Nest's general manager for Europe."Nest Learning Thermostat customers in the US experience savings of approximately 20 percent on average off their heating and cooling bill and we're looking forward to helping customers in the UK save as well."

The potential for saving on energy bills is the main appeal of the Nest Learning Thermostat in the UK and the company knows it too. It's working with npower to provide thermostats to its six million existing customers and is also trying to incentivise other companies to advertise it to their customers by helping them relieve pressure on the grid and assisting with sales promotions.

Obviously the full range of scheduling features are built in to the UK version of the thermostat, but what Nest is really hoping will help sell it to us are the efficiency features, which are ultimately the elements that will help us to reduce our bills. The Nest Leaf appears on the thermostat whenever you are using energy efficiently and its True Radiant system that prevents your heating from overshooting or undershooting its target temperature. The smartest bit of the smart thermostat are the algorithms that learn your behaviour patterns, but it also helps you to recognise these patterns too by providing you with a monthly energy report.

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Nest brings Learning Thermostat to the UK

Business News of Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Source: Daily Guide

Professor Thomas Akabzaa, Chief Director at the Ministry of Energy & Petroleum, has expressed grave concern about the quality of imported wires and cables.

Such wires are substandard and could lead to fire outbreaks and consequently loss of lives and property, according to him.

Prof. Akabzaa therefore called on the Ghana Standard Authority (GSA) to work with the Energy Commission (EC) to check the importation of inferior electrical cables.

Speaking at a ceremony in Accra recently, he said, GSA and EC must continue to work together to ensure that only certified electrical wires are allowed onto the Ghanaian market.

Prof. Akabzaa commended local manufacturers who produce quality materials, urging everyone to patronize made in Ghana cables.

He called on certified electrical wiring professionals to endeavor to use only the prescribed type of materials for electrical wiring and refrain from executing shoddy work and illegal wiring for clients.

Prof. Akabzaa reminded the agencies of Regulation 4 of the electrical wiring Regulations L.I 2008, which states that A person shall not use a material for electrical wiring unless that material is capable of maintaining the integrity of an electrical equipment or installation under environmental conditions stipulated by the manufacturer and approved by the GSA.

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Stop fake electrical wire imports - Prof. Akabzaa

An angry ratepayer destroys his recently installed water meter after learning of Dunedin City Council plans to charge households for water use. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.

The Otago Daily Times has learnt a ''small trial batch'' of meters has been covertly installed over the past year by contractors digging up footpaths for underground ultra-fast broadband (UFB) wiring.

A council spokesman denied the meters had been sneaked in, saying the project was timed to tap into the UFB work.

''It's about basic economies. If we went in and dug up the same piece of road that had just been dug up for broadband, we'd be flooded with complaints.''

A leaked document said the revenue from the water meters could be used to help pay off Forsyth Barr Stadium debt, although water used for civic amenities - including the stadium pitch - would be exempt from the water charge.

The document suggests households will be allowed 45 litres of free water each day, enough for drinking water, three, minute-long showers and six flushings of the toilet before being charged at 50c per litre thereafter.

It goes on to explain the estimated cost of water to wash a medium-sized car will be $4; watering a lawn $9 and extra toilet flushes at $1.50.

For families who prefer to use the bath, the water department suggests sharing to save costs, with three (not too soiled) people able to follow each other in the same water with no undue health risk.

Households will be encouraged to collect rainwater, which could be bucketed inside in the event of hosting guests who may also need to use the toilet.

Anticipating a reluctance to wash cars, the document recommends city parking officers be given the authority to ticket cars they deem to be ''unnecessarily dirty''.

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Dunedin water meters installed ultra-fast

Hayward, CA (PRWEB) March 29, 2014

SF Cable, a world renowned wholesale distributor of cables and networking solutions, has recently released a new product line of punch down keystone jacks. These punch down keystone modules are available at the companys online store at affordable prices.

The latest collection of SF Cable keystone jacks features easy-to-install and versatile modules that can meet the wiring requirements of growing networks. When requested to highlight the features of keystone jacks, the official spokesperson of SF Cable said, A keystone module is basically used to mount a range of electrical jacks into a patch panel, surface-mount box, or wall plate. This unit can support low-voltage connectors or jacks. Having a rectangular face and the right dimensions, they ensure easy and quick installation. Based on PCB technology, this keystone jack offers flawless signal quality and exceptional performance.

The high speed RJ45 keystone jack involves 90 degree connection features. This keystone jack is exclusively developed for high density patch panels. They are the perfect choice for data networks that demand great bandwidth and speed, the company representative further added while elaborating the uses of keystone jacks.

While discussing the compatibility features of RJ45 keystone jacks, the spokesperson said, Our keystone jack works well with all patch panels, surface mount boxes, and wall plates SF Cable has on offer. They are also compatible with our manufactured Ethernet patch cables.

The SF Cable product collection includes networking cables, home theater accessories, and other cabling solutions. The company claims to offer gold plated, UL listed keystone jacks. For more information about this product, please visit http://www.sfcable.com/1017-SF-06.html.

About SF Cable SF Cable is recognized as an established wholesale distributor of computer cables, laptop products, security accessories, and home theater items. Since its inception in 2002, the company has been offering quality solutions for varied electronic equipment. It presents more than 8,000 SKUs of components, accessories, and cables designed for a vast assortment of consumer electronics.

The product inventory of SF Cable also includes custom solutions, such as networking cables, fiber optic cables, and modular adapters. The company offers prompt delivery services, competitive prices, lifetime warranty, and extensive product collection to meet its consumers needs.

Contact Details SF Cable, Inc. 28300 Industrial Boulevard Suite F Hayward, CA 94545-4439 Toll-Free: 888-275-8755 Local: 510-264-9988 Fax: 510-264-9989 email: customerservice(at)sfcable(dot)com

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Creating Effective Wiring Solutions, SF Cable Presents an Innovative Series of RJ45 Keystone Jacks