What is that red light on my meter? You have a red light on your meter because there is an automatic meter reader (Turtle) installed. Do not be alarmed. This indicates that the automatic meter reading device is working. CLICK HERE for more info on HOW the Turtle Receiver works TURTLE TRANSMITTER The Turtle Transmitter is a small circuit board that installs into a meter. It measures kilowatthours and remembers peak and minimum demand. This data is time-stamped and transmitted continuously across the power lines from your house to the substation you are connected to where the receiver is located. The transmission system used by the Turtle is Ultra Narrow Bandwidth technology, which allows the signal to travel without problem by transformers and capacitor banks. The information sent by the Turtle transmitter, requires 14 to 28 hours to arrive at the substation. You might notice a slight outage when your meter with a Turtle transmitter is installed. TURTLE RECEIVER The Turtle receiver is the data collection device that understands how to “listen” for each of the Turtle transmitters assigned to a substation. The receiver is capable of hearing up to 2880 Turtle transmitters per feeder line simultaneously and storing the information it hears. It has memory that will remember the last 30 batches of information that it received from all Turtle transmitters. The Turtle receiver installs in the substation and requires no line disconnects or power outages for installation. HOST COMPUTER The host computer, which is in the Cooperative office, provides database support to maintain information about each of the Turtle transmitters. It is also the communications hub for acquiring data from each of the Turtle receivers located in each substation. A standard telephone line is connected to each Turtle receiver. The host computer will call each substation every night and download all data from that substation. The host computer maintains the database. \ TIP RURAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE PO Box 534 Brooklyn, IA 52211 Phone 641-522-9223 Fax 641-522-9271 EMAIL US   Web Services by ICE Technologies Pella, Iowa 641-628-8724 Copyright ©2002 TIP Rural Electric Cooperative