Archive for May 9th, 2012

I am looking for some new ideas in substation structures (I had my consulting engineer hat on this time). I stopped at Valmont to checkout what they are doing. A young guy came up to me and we talked about my interest. He told me I needed to talk with their expert. He could answer all my questions.

When the expert turned around, it was old home week on the floor. Tom Lovegrove has been selling me substation steel for more years than I care to count. His company was called Gates City Steel back then. Tom didn’t change companies. The company kept changing owners. We had a great time catching up. I haven’t seen him for years. I just love his place and all the old friends that keep turning up!

In my wanderings, I am looking for new ways of dealing with old problems. Jim Palmer had told me to look him up at the show and he would show me one of those solutions. If you have ever assembled a structure you know how much fun it is to get the holes to line up for bolting.

It takes a lot of beating and a good deal of time. Jim has process that does away with the how process. It is a “quick-pin” system. It is so simple even an engineer can do it. My linemen buddies would have a few comments to add, but we can skip that since I control the blog. Go see Jim at Thomas & Betts and ask him about it.

The aisles are starting to get crowded! The convention staff is moving all the food and drink out for the reception. It smells great and looks better. IEEE PES really knows how to through a party.

They had to station guards around the tables to keep us attendees from starting early, but the guards are very nice about it.

I have been walking past the Delta Star booth a couple of times and never noticed it. There is a full scale oil handling rig behind the medium power transformer!

If you look closely at the corner of the photo you can see the back end of the trailer. It is easy to miss because the transformer is so commanding.

IEEE PES is having a half price sale on membership. Well actually the year is half over and they are prorating the membership, but still it is a great deal. If you aren’t a member this is a great place to get it done. Henry is giving out all kinds of stuff if you sign up. He even gave me a couple of things.

I have been a member of IEEE and PES for over 35 years now. I made Life Member status last year. That is a great benefit too. I get discounted pricing on conferences and membership. So you young guys sign up now and start the clock ticking. When your age and number of years as a member total 100 (you have to be 65 too) you become a life member. The really cool thing is all the friends, fellowship, and memories you will have.

Also, I use IEEE for all my insurance needs. They provide me with life insurance that stays with me no matter who I work for. They also cover me for professional liability in my engineering work. Both are worth the cost of membership alone! Enough commercial.

My buddy Rick Bush went with me to the chalk art. It is a good thing they had rigid safety rules at this exhibit. He would have been toast!

I was walking around the floor and was stopped in my tracks by the rocks, crows, rattlesnake, and all kinds of home critters. It turns out some old friends and neighbors were exhibiting - EDM.

They have great technology and you can play with it. I did miss visiting with my buddy Andy. I guess I’ll have to head to Colorado to see him.Heck, it is a short trip from New Mexico

The folks at Salisbury have been doing training since the floor opened. They have the tools and the models set up to give you first hand experience with the equipment. Where else can an engineer or a manager get to work the tools? Try it at home and you get into problems with the union. Do it here and learn.

Be sure to visit the ladies at the CRC Press booth and get 20% off all books purchased. They also pay the postage, so you don’t have to worry about carrying it home. The postman will do all the heavy lifting.

On Sunday afternoon this monster was taking on the army of forklifts. It was the only thing I saw that was able to move through this place easily and safely. It turns out that is what it does in the filed too. It floats, goes through swamps, up embankments, you name it. Pretty cool. Go see the Hydratrek booth and watch it in action.