mains power logging

k

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Nov 18, 2009, 9:08:02 PM11/18/09

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does anyone know of any programs that could log mains power failures or
interrupts based on a laptop? I was thinking a laptop would be good for
this as it has it's own power supply in the event of a failure and should be
able to monitor whether mains power is available pretty easily without any
special interface beyond the laptop power supply it's self.. of course it
would only be of use for X hours, but that's adequate for my needs

I was looking at something like the ACR Powerwatch, but it's excessive for
my needs and at $640, i'd rather press an old laptop into service.

thanks

Johnw

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Nov 18, 2009, 11:12:50 PM11/18/09

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k presented the following explanation :

Using the search keyword > voltage
2 pages here.
http://www.softpedia.com/dyn-search.php?search_term=voltage&p_page=1&license_filter=1&lastupd_filter=0&sort_field=0&results_per_page=20&pick_only=0

3 pages
http://primewares.com/links.php?page=1&la=en&search=voltage

k

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Nov 19, 2009, 2:17:08 AM11/19/09

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"Johnw" <jm...@webace.com.au> wrote in message
news:he2gk5$usg$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

thanks, there wasn't anything there I could see - was there something
specific you meant that I may have missed?

I wasn't looking for a CRO type program, more a data logger .. say something
that recorded that the laptop went onto battery power at 10am for 120
seconds

k

Johnw

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Nov 19, 2009, 2:46:44 AM11/19/09

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k submitted this idea :

> thanks, there wasn't anything there I could see - was there something
> specific you meant that I may have missed?
>
> I wasn't looking for a CRO type program, more a data logger .. say something
> that recorded that the laptop went onto battery power at 10am for 120
> seconds

Put a different keyword into search.

Me.Here

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Nov 19, 2009, 3:19:33 AM11/19/09

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Did you have a look at your Administrative Tools Event Viewer?
Depending on your laptop and software, you may find times that the
laptop when on and off battery power in one of the logs.

--
MH

k

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Nov 19, 2009, 3:55:24 AM11/19/09

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"Me.Here" <me....@home.on.the.net> wrote in message
news:he2v5b$uoo$1...@mehere.eternal-september.org...

| Did you have a look at your Administrative Tools Event Viewer?
| Depending on your laptop and software, you may find times that the
| laptop when on and off battery power in one of the logs.

sorry, I was intending to run an older OS than XP and was curious if anyone
had encountered anything that would suite a generic windows OS

it just occured to me that there might be something out there already which
someone may know of - which would save me building an event trigger and
interfacing it to a more generic logger.

(I was thinking of an ancient P166 TP wiith Win9x I had sitting in the
corner gathering dust)

k

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Nov 19, 2009, 3:57:59 AM11/19/09

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"Johnw" <jm...@webace.com.au> wrote in message

news:he2t58$mbv$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

ah,

I have searched freeware, electronics, electical sites and manufacturers
sites like Fluke as well as googled the electronic newsgroups and hobbiest
sites before asking here.

I was more after a suggestion from anyone who may know of, written, or
encountered a program rather than a suggestion on how to search

thanks anyway

karl

Daniel Menzel

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Nov 19, 2009, 12:57:39 PM11/19/09

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k schrieb:

Perhaps this will fit your needs (runs on Windows 95 - XP at all):

Without command parameters it logs the power failure in the
file:"powerlog.txt" where the EXE is started.

But you can change this by:
Powerstatus.exe c:\temp\meinlog.txt

The interrogation intervall is 5 seconds, it has a minimizable status
window. And it reads directly from the Windows API.

http://www.gerdat.de/download/Powerstatus.exe

perhapts you need additional this file:
http://www.gerdat.de/download/VB40032.DLL

Daniel

--

-----------------------------
// It can be fun to use a pc \\
// :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) \\
**********************************
* Sorry for my bad english guess *
* I will never learn to speak and*
* write that language correctly! *
**********************************
* www.efmenzel.de *
**********************************

k

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Nov 19, 2009, 7:56:53 PM11/19/09

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"Daniel Menzel" <efme...@web.de> wrote in message
news:he4120$i1m$1...@news.eternal-september.org...

thanks very much, i'll give it a go :)

k

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Nov 19, 2009, 11:40:56 PM11/19/09

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"k" <fell...@PING.com> wrote in message
news:ubOdnSckeskPdZjW...@westnet.com.au...

perfect Daniel, thanks very much :)

Daniel Menzel

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Nov 20, 2009, 7:44:02 AM11/20/09

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k schrieb:

>
>
> perfect Daniel, thanks very much :)
>
>

You will have to thank Wolfgang Gerber from the usenet group
de.sci.ing.elektrotechnik

He sent me the information and the program links at all.

Diabolic Preacher

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Nov 21, 2009, 8:29:53 AM11/21/09

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>
> I wasn't looking for a CRO type program, more a data logger .. say something
> that recorded that the laptop went onto battery power at 10am for 120
> seconds
>
> k
>
>

Isn't this a very bad power usage pattern when it comes to prolonging
battery life? Isn't it unadvisable to keep laptop plugged in all the
time and discharge only in times of power loss?

--
Diabolic Preacher
As Is

Clive Savage

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Nov 22, 2009, 10:15:04 AM11/22/09

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How about one of these?
http://www.ecofreak.co.uk/products/64/Energy-Monitors.html
Bye for now.

Clive.

k

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Nov 26, 2009, 12:41:51 AM11/26/09

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"Diabolic Preacher" <dpre...@helldrive.inc> wrote in message
news:he8pvj$ms$1...@aioe.org...

it's an old TP with a NiCd battery, not a big issue.. and it's reatively low
powered too - much better than using a flashy laptop for the job :)