Ahh...my day job...

I started my current job with Solomon Corporation, while I was still in college, something to pad the resume, and pay the bills. It's now been 16 years. I have worked in most all areas of our company, primarily with voltage regulator and recloser control panels. I am an Electronic Engineer, responsible for designing and maintaining specialized test equipment for our company. I also provide technical support to our customers around the country, both over the phone, and on site.

My current projects include bringing an impulse tester back to life, and building temperature monitoring and control circuitry for a vacuum drying chamber in our substation transformer shop.

A view from the top	Duchesne, UT, summer '05 100 degrees, and snow on the mountains. Duchesne is the middle of nowhere, this sub is several miles north and west of there.	On site in North Carolina, early spring '05. A day travel each way, 2 hours to fix the problem.
Somerset, KY Aug. '06. Testing electronic recloser controls. Recloser is at top of pole, control at bottom.	Bottom of the pole. Cooper Power Systems Form 3A control panel. This equipment is what makes your lights blink in a thunderstorm.	Daniel Boone Nat'l Forrest, just north of Pine Knot, KY. Aug. '06
Ozarks Electric, Fayetteville AR October, 2006 Testing electronic recloser controls.	Cheston. I was cooped up in a pickup for four days with him. Good people.	Me in front of Mt. Trashmore, outside Fayetteville, AR. Oct. 2006. They send me to all the best places.
A recloser on a 12,470 volt line in Hooker, OK. A cat got into the lines and caused a fire. Two reclosers burned up, and the cat lived! To give you an idea of the heat, the three bushings on top with the big wires hanging out are made of porcelain. There used to be six, the other three melted! I installed replacement switchgear and brand new microprocessor controls.	Marion, KS Feb 19, 2007. This circuit breaker blew up Friday night, I was on site Monday morning assesing damage. Must have been one heck of a boom!	Jan '07, on a tour of the Jack Daniels distillery. I'm about the 8th from the left, the tall guy in the back. Perks of the job.
One of my work projects is a new transformer test board for our substation transformer shop. This is the "Fish Tank", a bunch of high voltage contactors and current and voltage sensing transformers. We will test transformers up to 69,000 volts and 30 MVA (roughly 30 megawatts)	Here's a wider view of the business end of this equipment. Step up transformer in back, thousands of kVAR's of capacitors on right. It is operated from a console downstairs, and communicates via CAT-5.	The console that runs the test board...Power analyzer on left, industrial computer with touch screen and wireless keyboard / mouse in center, operating controls on right.
The boss was gone for a week, so we gift wrapped his office. We even used his own Wall Street Journals! Idle hands...		Glen Elder, KS March '07
My view for 10 hours (one way) traveling to Tonopah, NV from our plant in Grand Junction, CO. Well actually, 30 miles west and 20 south from Tonopah, just outside BFE. The actual geographical middle of nowhere.	Afterwards, I went to see Hoover Dam. It was only about 6 hours out of my way.	...and look at the substation!
Fort Riley, KS May '07. Working on the switch, while the lines are energized at 12,470 volts.	Grain bins from the elevator, wrapped around what's left of a house.	Wider view. This is looking into town, through the main housing neighborhood.
This is a car site, so here's some cars...this was in Greensburg, KS, July, '07	The reason I was there...I was installing the microprocessor controls on the switchgear in this new sub. The white buildings in the background are all the FEMA trailers. Don't get me started on FEMA...	On the job in Massachusetts, summer '08.  I was subcontracting to Cooper Power Systems.
Latest work project...this is a 27,000 volt circuit breaker from Texas. It was sent to me after it failed. Siemens type SDV, if you're interested.	Inside the high voltage compartment. Insulated supports (angled things in background) failed, causing quite a bit of smoke to leak out. I think I can fix...	I went to Trenton, MO last Sunday to work on a high voltage switch. It's inside this box, part of an automatic load transfer scheme.
Here's the switch. There is a little one-way bearing that we replaced.	I was in Lubbock, TX recently, teaching a school. I visited the grave of Buddy Holly while there. As per tradition, I left one of my favorite guitar picks, so "the music won't die". Click for larger image.	Working on some switch controls for East Bay Municipal Utilities District in Richmond, CA, Feb '10
Here's a shot of the controls. This switches from primary to alternate power, when primary is lost.	The place is solar powered. Each rectangle is 200 watts, 56 panels per unit. There are about 75 of these, for a total capacity of 1000kW.