RadioRANGER Wireless Fault Indication System received the Utilities Telecommunications Council (UTC) Wireless Product of the Year Award during a UTC conference and exposition May 6-9. The conference, held in Austin, Texas, showcases current and emerging technology for critical infrastructure communication.

The RadioRANGER is a product of the Lake Zurich-based E. O. Schweitzer Manufacturing Division of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. (SEL). The RadioRANGER reduces the time required to find power failures by leading line crews to the location of underground faults.
"A key part of the UTC competition is getting the judges excited about the product," SEL Research and Development Manager Ken Fodero said. "This year it was easy to build the excitement because the RadioRANGER system solves a big problem in a very innovative way. The RadioRANGER makes what is usually a time-consuming, expensive, and often hazardous task into a simple process a line crew can complete from a truck."

Today, the fault-finding process often involves draining vaults of water and clearing them of debris and hazardous gases. With the RadioRANGER system, a crew uses a small, handheld device to identify the vault or span of underground cable between two vaults in which the fault occurred.

"The RadioRANGER sniffs out the fault indicators and shows you which ones are tripped so you know right where to get to work, only opening the enclosures you need to gain access to the positively identified faulted section," said Dr. Edmund O. Schweitzer III, SEL president and CEO. "The system came out of our search for ways to find underground faults faster and more safely, and which pays back fast. Plus, it is an important part of SEL's increasing number of solutions for distribution automation."

E. O. Schweitzer Manufacturing is accepting orders now for RadioRANGER starter kits. The product is scheduled to release in June 2007. For more information on features, benefits, and applications, visit http://eosmfg.com/products/radio_ranger.html.
E. O. Schweitzer Manufacturing, the electric power industry's market leader in fault-indicator and related sensor technology, became a division of SEL in 2006. It began manufacturing fault indicators in 1949 and today produces the widest variety of fault indicators in the industry.

SEL serves the electric power industry worldwide through the design, manufacture, supply, and support of products and services for power system protection, monitoring, control, automation, and metering. SEL offers unmatched local technical support, a worldwide, ten-year product warranty, and a commitment to making electric power safer, more reliable, and more economical.

For more information, contact SEL by phone (509) 332-1890; fax (509) 332-7990; or mail to 2350 NE Hopkins Court, Pullman, WA 99163-5603. SEL is on-line at www.selinc.com.

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Fri Oct 26 11:19:00 CDT 2007