James E Hackett's articles

  • Power Lines look alive to me.

    - 6 years ago - 3 comments
    This article is going to sound silly, but I want to share with you all why I've been interested in power lines my whole life. All power lines look like they are a live to me. In other words, they look almost as if they are actually living things no different than humans, animals, or birds. When I look at poles, each and every one of them are unique and have its own personality. When they corner, or meander around the environment for example, they almost seem like they have emotions that conv…

  • DTE and DLC's series street lighting circuits becoming extinct

    - 08 Aug 2015 - 4 comments
    I just got back from a trip up to Michigan and I got bad news. Detroit Edison and Detroit Lightning Commission has made a huge update on their street lighting system. They have replaced almost lall the streets lights with efficient LED lights which is good. The bad news is, they have replaced just about all their series street light circuits with standard 120/240 wiring. Fortunately I tookmany photographs of the old circuits last years during the winter so I at least got many photographs of them…

  • If your favorite power utility had an astrological sign what sign would you choose?

    - 01 May 2015
    I know this sounds kind of like a silly question but if you could choose a specific utility and pick an astrological sign to best fit it in your opinion which one would you choose? For me, I would say Vergo would be a good fit for NSTAR because the power line construction is always kind of rugged and overly build i.e. many insulators and suspension rings on their subtransmission lines and tuns of ariel spacer lines on their distribution system for garentee protecction. I would probably think…

  • A city built on insulators...

    - 19 Feb 2015
    www.inmr.com/2015/02/city-literally-built-insulators

  • If a muni ever had the chance to become bigger then just one town...

    - 16 Apr 2014 - 3 comments
    Sometimes I wonder if this has ever crossed your mind? ....if a muni you saw ever had the chance to become bigger, possibly become an invester owned utility, and cover more towns, cities, and overall distance but still retain the characteristic construction styles and pole specs? As you all would probably agree, munis do have some interesting pole designs and constructions. Just imagine if one these "shoestring" munis ever had the chance to expand and cover more distance of customers like a larg…

  • LED street lights....

    - 30 Mar 2014 - 2 comments
    Im curious, have any of you guys seen LED street lights pop up in your area left? Street lights are starting to use LED technology because they're power consumption is signifacatly less and i've seen them starting to see a few here and there. In Detroit, I've seen parts of main highways now use LED street lighting as well as Consumer's Energy. SCEG where I live still put up mercury and HPS lights everywhere however in one area, Mount Pleasant, the entire city was completely replaced with LED lig…

  • The Making of Porcelain Insulator in 1935 @ P.I.N.C.O. factory

    - 27 Jan 2014 - 1 comment
    I this was interesting. This is a video of how various porcelain insulators were manufactured at P.I.N.C.O. in 1935. Enjoy.

  • Polymere Pin "bowl" type insulator?

    - 21 Jan 2014 - 1 comment
    I thought this was interesting, I came across a website of a company called ARP that actually makes polymer Pin "bowl" type insulators. I thought it was interesting to find this out. I think this a brand new utility company and utiltiy companies like these insulators, these will start to be seen on poles probably within a year. Here's a link to the website. www.arp-hivoltageinsulators.com

  • I thought this was interesting....

    - 30 Sep 2013 - 4 comments
    I found this on the internet regarding a prototype pylon design that was deisgned. www.dezeen.com/2010/01/20/pylons-of-the-future-dancing-with-nature-by-hugh-dutton-associes/

  • spectacular lightning storm gone wrong

    - 03 Sep 2013 - 1 comment
    Today I just saw probably the most amazing lightning storm this year. Of course, I didn't have my camera with me. I ended up missing the best storm watching amazing bolts shoot down with aw knowing it probably have hit a few powerlines in places I could have been with a camera. Once I finally got home, I suddenly realized I that when I went to walmart twice, I should have got that little chode battery for my camera AE-1. I managed to get the tail end of the storm and only get one shot before t…

  • Creating a power line database by "tagging" or "key wording"

    - 17 Jul 2013
    For now on, when I upload photos I am going to start tagging all of them. Each photo is going to include: power company, voltage level, pole type i.e. wood pole, tower, h-frame, and names of interesting equipment like old transformers, and insulators (such as CD# if known). I am going to do that to all of my photographs i've uploaded. It is going to take a long time, but I think it will be worth it. I think it will make searching for photos easier by voltage, utility, or certain equipment. Power…

  • What do power lines look like to a "none-line-geek"?

    - 04 Jul 2013 - 5 comments
    Whenever I look out the window with awe at yet another power line, I often wonder, what does this power line or other typical power lines look like to someone who isn't interested in power lines. What does a power line look like for a person who isn't a line geek like me or like my fellow friends on ipernity? Do they see that power line just like I do or does it look different to them? Do you truly think they look ugly like most none line geeks claim to say or do they actually look cool to some…