Electricity – the limited resource

Wed, 08 Jul 2015 14:07:21 +0000

Kabelknoten

The camp takes place on an area which does not provide a sufficient amount of electricity to cover our needs. Deciding whether to set up our own separate transformer or augmenting the power supply through generators was a tough one. Because of financial (and time) constraints, we settled for the latter.

CC-BY-SA 2.0 Dimi Original File

As a consequence, there will not be an unlimited amount of power available through a central line. Instead, it will be generated on site by a bunch of generators. While we will try our best to meet all requirements, cannot make any guarantees. Still, **most of your needs should be fulfill able if you look out for one another.**

For example, the power distribution units provide a limited number of outlets. So plan ahead, and, more importantly, talk to your neighbours on how to best divvy (and cable) them up.

If your village requested a three-phase current connection, we expect you to bring cables and distributors along yourselves. Everybody else also should bring their own extensions, since there will not be any available on site. Spot checks of your power equipment will be carried out throughout the campsite to ensure their proper functioning. Should any of your equipment not be impeccable, its usage will not be permitted. If you have questions, just send an email to: power@fengel.info. We will do our best to sort out any issues.

High Voltage Equipment Camp 2011

Again, please think of your fellow attendees! A pizza oven or USB-charger with 63A CEE are surely fancy, but they will also burn through a lot of “precious” electricity. If you consume too much, your neighbours’ tent will likely black out—and there is quite a chance they are not going to enjoy it.

There is one more issue when working with generators: refueling. To do so, the generators have to be switched off. We cannot predict how long a full tank of gas will last, but we will monitor the consumption in order to make an educated guess so as to predict the next expected downtime, which we will then post on a sign on the generator. On the bright side, such refueling should take place at most once every 24 hours, and will hopefully not take longer than 30 Minutes.

Last but not least: Availability of electricity will begin on August 11th!

How to get power at 30C3 – bring ALL your multi-outlet power strips!

Mon, 16 Dec 2013 14:24:01 +0000

German summary: Unbedingt Mehrfachsteckdosen mitbringen! Außerdem: Cat5-Kabel, Lampen für Eure Assembly, Telefone, Werkzeug, etc…

Distributing power on 30C3 requires a lot of planning and effort, and of course a truckload of equipment. This year the setup consists of 5 kilometers (km) of CEE compliant three-phase and 8km of 230V/16A power cabling, resulting in a total of 13km of cables needed to distribute power at the venue. To connect all the cables there are also about 100 three-phase distributors needed, 25 of them being “big” ones with 63 amperes. On top of this power backbone we will have about 800 multi-outlet power strips in place, resulting in approximately 3900 power sockets.

=> So please bring your multi-outlet power strips!

That is very important as the sockets have to supply a lot of equipment on site, and there will be fewer outlets available than needed in busy most areas. So please bring a power strip to connect to the sockets provided on-site so you can share power with other users. If everybody starts charging their devices directly from that single free power outlet, there will not be any sockets left for other users. Also don’t forget to bring CAT5 cables for your laptops please, as there will be none provided!

Especially if you plan to connect several devices, or to set up an assembly you and your group should bring plenty of power strips with you. While you’re at it, please feel free to bring lamps (especially colored ones) and anything else that helps making your assembly a nice place worthwhile. Also you might want to bring your DECT phone or your old GSM mobile with an old SIM card, your soldering station and other devices and tools that might come in handy. If you are uncertain about what to bring or not to bring to the congress, please have at look our “How To Survive” page in the wiki.

For all travellers from abroad, please keep in mind that the German power sockets might be different from the ones you use to have. So don’f forget to bring your adapters.

power on CCC Event Blog

Electricity – the limited resource

How to get power at 30C3 – bring ALL your multi-outlet power strips!