The quiet grid



"The Grid", as we audiophiles refer to it is the power in our neighborhood. You may or may not have what we call "clean" electricity. We have add on boxes that clean up your electricity if there is a problem.

Those very expensive two box units with separate power supplies solve the problem of clean electricity at a price.

I am a keen observer of "The grid"; I notice when there is a remarkable improvement in my audio for no apparent reason. The last time I noticed this, I listened to music all night long. It was on a Christmas Eve, and there was a foot of snow outside; that's when I determined this remarkable improvement was the result of a quiet "grid"; that's when there is almost no commercial or industrial activity on the "electrical grid" near you, and residential use is quiet as well.

Normally this only occurs for a short time, but it's been like that for days; this has never happened before. Our present COVID 19 lockdown condition has given us a super quiet grid. That means our modest rigs are equivalent to much more expensive rigs that have expensive power supplies.

I am going to take advantage of this by doing a lot of recording. (when my reel to reel gets out of the shop) It's extremely unfortunate that we have this super quiet grid as a result of COVID 19, but there it is.
orpheus10
Working as an Engineer in Aerospace for five years and then in the Electric Utility industry for over 37 years, I can tell you that Cleeds was absolutely spot  on.

Unfortunately, due to this really serious virus, people are losing their jobs  on a massive scale (many will probably not recover).  Yes, the air quality is much better.  I remember back in the late 60s, early seventies, in Los Angeles, on many days, you could not see a mile down the street.  The air was so bad, it hurt the lungs. California came up with the Air Quality Management District rules for car/factory/refinery, etc. air quality standards and even then, many people (most with money) complained about the rules.  Most of them didn't live in LA proper and didn't care about the people living there.  All they cared about was making money.  Fast forward, the air quality in Los Angeles was vastly improved.  not the best, but much better than it was.

Now, traffic is almost non-existent.  Air is wonderful.  People are staying home for fear of catching this deadly virus.  

I typically would listen to music late at night anyway, and therefore, I never had an issue with power quality.  Actually, the City of Los Angeles' electrical system and Power Grid is very reliable.  I happen to be the first house fed off the transformer in my neighborhood.  Which is a very good thing.

What has happened and is still happening now, shows why diseases ran rampant in the past.  People didn't seek actual facts and believed people that made claims that had no scientific basis and eventually either/or caught the virus or spread it to others.

As usual, it became a political issue instead of a science issue.  And since many people's new "religion" is their political affiliation, they believe their political leaders and news anchors instead of listening to actual science and facts.

As far as the quiet grid is concerned, yes, many shops and factories are currently closed which reduces greatly generation needs of the electrical system and therefore, takes generators off  the system.  I see this every day in the work that I do.

Unfortunately, people are sick and dying.  Jobs lost, careers hurt, families devastated.  This actual scenario was predicted so many times by science experts. But many "politicians" refused to listen or prepare for it. 

Stay smart, stay safe, enjoy your families, and music.  (we are indeed fortunate) that we have music.  I do hope that we learn from this.

I appreciated you all and your thoughts and opinions.  There is always room for me to learn.

enjoy
People didn't seek actual facts and believed people that made claims that had no scientific basis and eventually either/or caught the virus or spread it to others.


True.  Please read anything you can on the Spanish Flu of 1918 (which, BTW, may have actually started in Kansas). Especially read the detailed comparisons of how different cities responded, and what the outcomes were.

Also, the light from power meters kills coronavirus.