How stupid do you have to be?

I read through the news coverage of the vandalism at the KRKO transmitter site.  Apparently, there is some group of idiots people running around insisting that radio towers are bad for the environment and people’s health.  These are the same ones who have torched SUVs and burned high-end housing developments down.  Naturally, no pollution is released into the environment during these acts, or else they would be hypocrites.

They make these claims with no merit or scientific basis, instead relying on base fears to make people go crazy, either temporarily or permanently like.  It is actually a pretty good motivator as both political parties and all sorts of fringe truthier, birthier, and others have discovered.  If enough people insist that it is true, then it must be so.

Unfortunately, there is always some idiot around who thinks it is his or her duty to take action, to protect the rest of us from some terrible fate.

In the meantime, some security cameras at the transmitter site might be a good investment.  Chances are, these Earth Liberators that sneak around with bolt cutters and hack saws will likely think twice if there is any chance of themselves going to jail.

By the way, those KRKO towers looked like self-supporters which would have been very difficult to get down.  Did they rent that excavator, or was some construction equipment left unattended?

When batteries explode

This is a picture of an exploded battery on a 45 KW backup generator:

850 CCA battery exploded during generator startup
850 CCA battery exploded during generator startup

This happened during a thunderstorm.  The smoking crew was out on the back porch, during a thunderstorm (you have to have your priorities I suppose) and witnessed the entire incident.  What was told to me was lightning stuck the generator.  I find that improbable since there are many metal objects scattered around the area that are much taller.  What likely happened was lightning stuck something close by, causing the power to drop out momentarily.  This caused the generator to turn over.  The battery was likely low in electrolyte, so there was an internal arc and the thing exploded in short order.

These events happened in rapid succession, giving the illusion that lightning struck the generator.

I removed the old battery and hosed the inside of the generator with copious amounts of water.  There is nothing that can be done about the spilled electrolyte, since it was likely washed into the storm sewer during the storm.  After the replacement of the battery, I tested the generator and all is well.