Come on you clever people

[IvyParticipant @ivy]

What is it?

[IvyParticipant @ivy]

As we all know model engineers are the cleverest people around, so….

Can some body tell me what this is?

It has no bearing on a mobile phone signal. It is in the middle of a sizeable forestry plantation in rural Devon, and has been there for donkeys years, some locals said 40 years or more.

I emailed the company, but did not get so much as an acknowledgement. (How rude)

Yours curious and thank you,

Ivy.

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

It's a top-secret installation to extract energy from moonbeams.

 

 

Or maybe lightning.

Edited By Mick B1 on 04/09/2018 18:58:34

[IvyParticipant @ivy]

Posted by Mick B1 on 04/09/2018 18:58:02:

It's a top-secret installation to extract energy from moonbeams.

Just what I thought.

Or maybe lightning.

This has been suggested to me once before.

Edited By Mick B1 on 04/09/2018 18:58:34

[Mark P.Participant @markp]

I’m only guessing but could it be something to do with the now stood down R.O.C, maybe some sort of fallout sampling and transmission gear?
Mark P.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Is there another ring, at the third apex ?

MichaelG.

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

Sshh! Top secret MOD device to spy on local squirrels.

[IvyParticipant @ivy]

Posted by Mark P. on 04/09/2018 19:02:15:
I'm only guessing but could it be something to do with the now stood down R.O.C, maybe some sort of fallout sampling and transmission gear?
Mark P.

I'm sorry I don't know what R.O.C. is.

[Trevor Crossman 1Participant @trevorcrossman1]

An aerial for airborne detection of partial discharge within underground high voltage transmission lines maybe?

Trevor

[IvyParticipant @ivy]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 04/09/2018 19:02:46:

Is there another ring, at the third apex ?

MichaelG.

Yes

[IvyParticipant @ivy]

I knew I had come to right place.

I will continue reading tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming.

[DMBParticipant @dmb]

I have in the past, seen some strange looking installations in other parts of the UK, with little or no lettering/ID plates on any of the odd looking boxes, always in a fenced enclosure. Always in quiet locations, boxes dark green or grey.. suppose they could be something as innocent as monitoring equipment used by the local water company, or?

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

EA's website "about us" section says "EA Technology is a specialist in asset management solutions for owners and operators of electrical assets. Headquartered in the UK, our operations and customers are global with seven regional offices around the world.

We originated in 1966 as a groundbreaking research and development organisation serving the electricity industry."

Since the electrical pole/ bracket / rings assy is near the transformer box, maybe the rings on the pole are send/ receive antennas for monitoring it. Pretty boring stuff.

Could also be devices to DIRECT moonbeams at local squirrels in an attempt to do mind control on them and get them to rise up against the evil forces threatening the Chester countryside. Could have sworn I saw a squirrel go by my back door yesterday with a helmet and backpack rocket tube launcher……er maybe not

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 04/09/2018 19:13:48

[David Standing 1Participant @davidstanding1]

From EA's website:

 

EA Technology is a specialist in asset management solutions for owners and operators of electrical assets.

We originated in 1966 as a groundbreaking research and development organisation serving the electricity industry.

We are committed to providing our customers with innovative products and services, consultancy and training which deliver tangible benefits for their businesses enabling them to create safer, stronger and smarter networks for today and the future.

We work with many clients on a long-term basis to safeguard their power networks.

**LINK**

 

My guess is also that it is some sort of lightning detection device.

That block of conifers would probably have been very small 40 years ago.

 

EDIT: I was typing as Jeff posted!

Edited By David Standing 1 on 04/09/2018 19:15:26

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

My first thought was it's like a 'sferic' detector – that's two large coils at 90 degrees for detecting lightning. It gives a bearing but the two directions forward and back are ambiguous.

Assuming it has three coils, it would be able to give an unambigous direction for lightning discharges without having to be triangulated from another unit, or top give exact position with just two units (instead of three two coil units).

Looking at the company's website they do a lot of things for detecting high voltage discharge from the power network, so monitoring lightning may help them avoid false positives, or provide location data when there's a strike.

Or perhaps it's a cover for the CIA controlling our computers… foil hat, anyone?

Neil

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

I think Trevor is on the right track. It looks like some kind of H field (magnetic) monitor or antenna. More likely for above ground power lines though. It's effectively a directional radio system.

Not Royal Observer Corps (ROC) who monitored for nuclear explosions. They did not use electromagnetic detection systems.

Robert.

[Mark P.Participant @markp]

Ivy, the R.O.C. was the Royal Observer Corps. During the cold war they would monitor fallout from a nuclear bomb etc.
Mark P.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

It's a 3-phase electricity monitor

… they are devloping Nikola Tesla's dream of wireless energy transmission

MichaelG.

.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fantastic_Inventions_of_Nikola_Tesla#/media/File%3AThe_Fantastic_Inventions_of_Nikola_Tesla.png

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 04/09/2018 19:29:26

[MichaelRParticipant @michaelr]

"Capenhurst" gives a clue, British Nuclear Fuels have a place there, radiation monitor maybe Mike.

[Mick HenshallParticipant @mickhenshall99321]

I think I can see a couple of Druids lurking in the undergrowth 😨

Mick

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

You're right Mick, I see 'em now –

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Pretty sure Neil's right – it's an antenna and receiver for a lightning location system, and EA have been operating a lightning detection service in the UK 'for 30 years'.

There will be several similar installations in electrically quiet locations scattered around the country. I guess the box contains power, a small computer, 3 or 4 radio receivers, and a phone line. The direction and intensity of any lightning detected is reported back and triangulated centrally.

Historical analysis of lighting strikes reveals which areas are more at risk of lightning damage than others, which helps Risk Assess maintenance and new build work.

Active monitoring gives early warning of electrical storms and their track and intensity. The service is used by organisations with assets at risk of being struck by lightning – radio masts, cathedrals, nuclear power stations etc. I guess men working on pylon supported power lines are keen not to be caught in a thunderstorm!

Similar loop antenna on the INGESGO website:

Dave

[peak4Participant @peak4]

From the Lightning Detection section of their website;

15 detection outstations monitor the whole of the UK and Ireland – including four in Ireland and four in Scotland Proven lightning flash detection efficiency of 98%

Doesn't say where they are though for obvious reasons.

Bill

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

There's also the amateur version

http://www.lightningmaps.org/blitzortung/europe/index.php?bo_page=map&bo_showmap=0&bo_period=12&lang=en

Neil

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Extraordinary pattern of lightning right now, but perfectly matches the satellite IR cloud on the met office website.

[Author]

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