Posted by S Andreason on
URL: https://www.es-forum.com/Can-I-partially-shield-a-smart-meter-so-it-still-works-tp3109024p3113919.html

Hi R. and all,
This reply touches on a couple threads.

> Now, what I can say, at least from having stood for a few minutes with my RF
> meter in hand by where my trailer is parked on this property, is that I was
> not picking up pulses from the smart meter(s) every second or numerous times
> per minute.  I think that there are different types of smart meters, and not
> all of them send a signal the same number of times per minute/hour/day.
>  

I think the determining factor, is now many other smart meters are around.
Culverpratt just wrote yesterday that the pules are completely
unpredictable.
Of course, one meter emits an outgoing packet every _x_ hours. It
transmits to the next closest meter in a mesh network, or to the tower
if close enough. That meter sends the packet on to the next meter, and
so on until it reaches the tower.

The more smart meters around, the more often the chirping, and the
higher the exposure, and the faster people will get sick.
So if you are in a very rural area, and IF the meter is wireless, and
not just transmitting back along the power line, as they are going to do
here, then there are simply more than one possibility and outcome to
check for. etc. Make sense?

> So, Stewart, are you saying that if I stood to the *side* of a smart meter
> and picked up its transmitting pulse with my RF meter, that would indicate
> that it's omnidirectional?
>  
Yes, I can't imagine them not being omnidirectional. I would simply want
to know if it broadcasts wireless.

> I'm not talking about wrapping these things in foil (tempting though that
> sounds); I'm talking about maybe sticking a piece of clearshield on the
> front of them, or putting a square of sheet metal on a post some distance
> away from whichever part of the smart meter is pointed toward where my
> trailer is, to bounce back some of the RF.
>
>  
Good plan, maybe even bounce it up or down or away from your friendly
and helpful neighbor.


>  That's over forty thousand smart
> meters.  The one on this house is closer to my bedroom than the two on this
> rural property would be to my trailer.
>  
But the exposure levels are going to be different, as I think you have
figured out. One bird chirping is not like a flock of starlings.

>   The charger I have generates some AM radio noise at the source
> (the charger), but that doesn't seem to carry at all into the trailer.  It
> drops off fast.

What I did when in a trailer, was to put the NAPA auto automatic battery
charger 50+ feet away in or on a building close by, providing power.
Then run a 12 guage romex/insulated set of wires to the trailer
batteries. Then I ran the Norcold amonia fridge (no compressor) on a
heavy duty extension cord, so that it wouldn't use propane, and didn't
bother me up front. (bed in back, away from power box). Re-wired the
furnace so it wouldn't use the chassis as a ground loop, and it was quiet.

>  they've got CFLs, WiFi routers and DECT phones.
That is disturbing. That should be a higher concern than one smart meter.

>  The man who owns
> the place runs a company; he looks dazed all the time.  The AM radio goes
> ape-sh*t when I bring it into his office, I've never even heard the noises
> it makes in there before; it's quite something.
>  
And so it may be starting to affect him.
Are there any hills/buildings/trees to block the "view" from his place
to your trailer?

> All I can say is that I'll have to try the place out.  If I feel better, I
> stay.  If not, I go.  

Hope it goes well,
Stewart