Will PG&E's SmartMeters smoke out pot growers?

[Hydrosun]

Since when is the government poking into citizen's bank accounts without a warrant? Or private files?

Not saying some bad apples haven't done it illegally, but to act like that is the government's "standard operating procedure" strikes me as a bit disingenuous.

Pretty sure bank records are PUBLIC not private and the man can look at our checking accounts any time.

Ever been to court? Do you think you can tell the judge my bank records are private? We have no privacy and should understand that the us gvt. records 100% of world wide internet activity, even this post.

How we choose to live our lives knowing that they know is our business, and business is a little paranoid if you're a weed smoker and grower

 

[Lazyman]

Just slap a heavy magnet to the side of the meter.

This advice brought to you by, "The year 1985!"

No really, the magnets stopped working when they switched the discs to aluminum, and digital smartmeters have no disc at all.

If you live in a part of the country that still has antique meters than this might work, just remember to remove it before the meter reader comes around or the cops will be on their way shortly.

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

Pretty sure bank records are PUBLIC not private and the man can look at our checking accounts any time.

Ever been to court? Do you think you can tell the judge my bank records are private? We have no privacy and should understand that the us gvt. records 100% of world wide internet activity, even this post.

How we choose to live our lives knowing that they know is our business, and business is a little paranoid if you're a weed smoker and grower

Bank records require a warrant.

Google this stuff next time before you run your mouth, little tired of correcting BS around here.

 

[Hydrosun]

Bank records require a warrant.

Google this stuff next time before you run your mouth, little tired of correcting BS around here.

Why should I google it if you'll take care of it for me? If you're tired of doing all the martyr work, just quit and look for another photo for your sig. And if you think private investigators and the government cann't get bank records maybe you'll sleep better, but you'd be wrong.

 

[whiterasta]

FWIW lights and ballasts give off EMR that can be identified easily from the air or street with sensitive equipment and right at the pole with a simple oscilloscope and computer program as the equipment puts out a signature on the line power.How much this is used is kept very quiet but is in the federal toolkit
WR

 

[osoloco69]

FWIW lights and ballasts give off EMR that can be identified easily from the air or street with sensitive equipment and right at the pole with a simple oscilloscope and computer program as the equipment puts out a signature on the line power.How much this is used is kept very quiet but is in the federal toolkit
WR

Any power transformer will give such a reading...the reason the Feds don't use that method is that there would be quite a few metallica wannabes on guitar that would have warrants quickly.

 

[johnnybhang]

How long will it be before someone figures out how to hack the wireless signal sent back? Pirate box smart meters. Taking paper clips to a whole new level.

 

[TommyTwoTokes]

Im so glad I stumbled on this thread. I live in the great white north and we have just had smart meters installed in my hometown.
Im not too familiar with the way things work in Cali, and the usa in general but I live in a town of 1300 and I run about 1100 watts.

I had an argument with a friend recently about the monitoring and detection of light cycles. The only thing I have to say is, theres literally hundreds of thousands of people for these companies to monitor. you would need hundreds and hundreds of people to 'snoop' 24/7 to get all the growers out there. I think people are a little too paranoid about this.
If you keep your phonelines, traffic and gum flapping to a minimum theres nothing to worry about for the med/hobbyist farmer.
Another thought if they call the cops on every light cycle im sure they would be kicking in legit florists and vegetable gardeners doors in and wouldnt they feel silly if that happened.
Maybe its time to give this LED movement an honest chance. Cut the power consumption down dramatically.
just my humble opinion

 

[LoudBlunts]

How long will it be before someone figures out how to hack the wireless signal sent back? Pirate box smart meters. Taking paper clips to a whole new level.

exactly... the more tools they bring against us... the more tools that hackers and pirates on our side will use their technology against em

 

[funkervogt]

Power companies don't voluntarily give up growers for the same reason growshops don't.

 

[stink.whistler]

Power companies don't voluntarily give up growers for the same reason growshops don't.

Some probably don't, it doesn't sound like PG&E gives up growers voluntarily. But as for growshops not giving up info voluntarily, maybe not - but remember Operation Green Merchant? How long till Operation Thomas Edison?

...

I had an argument with a friend recently about the monitoring and detection of light cycles. The only thing I have to say is, theres literally hundreds of thousands of people for these companies to monitor. you would need hundreds and hundreds of people to 'snoop' 24/7 to get all the growers out there. I think people are a little too paranoid about this.
If you keep your phonelines, traffic and gum flapping to a minimum theres nothing to worry about for the med/hobbyist farmer.
Another thought if they call the cops on every light cycle im sure they would be kicking in legit florists and vegetable gardeners doors in and wouldnt they feel silly if that happened.
Maybe its time to give this LED movement an honest chance. Cut the power consumption down dramatically.
just my humble opinion

You wouldn't need hundreds and hundreds of people to snoop 24/7 - you would need one data mining consultant to write an algorithm. Then the local cops would use the list generated month after month as their shortlist for conducting follow up investigations (FLIR, shipping records, or 'we walked by and smelled a strong odor' if they can't find anything real)

As for cops feeling silly for busting down vegetable gardener's doors - I doubt they would feel silly at all, or even be apologetic. Plus what % of growers running indoor lights are growing anything other than cannabis? Maybe 1% growing orchids and .0001% growing tomatoes? I guess during certain months there are vegetable gardeners running a strip of fluorescents to start seedlings, but realistically that's about it.

And so far the best anyone has done on the LED tests is to equal what a good grower under HPS can yield with the same wattage.

 

[the_red_bull]

How many of you are making sure your friends are registered to vote in November? Are you?

That is the answer. This Fear tool is the only tool that works for prohibitionists.

I suggest we stop perpetuating the cycle of fear.

That would only work if people could live peacably with one another and not start conflicts. I think the prohibition of marijuana among other things proves that just isn't the case. There will always be some moral crusade and I'd much rather be feared so that people will think twice before coming over to me for something. For example, China has a dismal human rights record but we still deal with them like a leading industrialized nation. Why?? Think about it.

 

[FLoJo]

just grow poppies and flower on an 18 hour cycle!!

for real tho, there are some places that cops and electric companies work together.. most are city owned utilities or draconian states.. any privately held corporation or coop, wants money.. your money.. your neighbors money.. and the cops money too.

we live in america.. we grow weed to save/make money.. they sell power to make money. IMO the only way you are gonna get picked up is if you pull a red flag like running 20k in a non med state, or steal power... if you steal power, they will try to fuck you hard, cuz you are fucking with their money.

 

[osoloco69]

exactly... the more tools they bring against us... the more tools that hackers and pirates on our side will use their technology against em

If the meter people don't get the reading they just walk to see the numbers and manually verify. All you'll do is catch hell from the FCC is your broadcast signal is too strong. To truly hack the meter you would need a chip reader from an electronics store, and would also need to know which chip holds the firmware for the way the machine counts. Then you could copy the firmware, mod it, and put a new chip with the new counting formula into the box.

 

[Fanner50]

Smart Meters a Threat?

Smart Meters a Threat?

Smart Meters are back in the news it seems. Recently I received a Smart Meter without my knowledge. Being curious I did some googling and then watched a few youtube videos on Smart Meters...and became Paranoid!

Now my dog barks and I run to the window!

According to what I''ve read - two states, Ohio and Texas are starting to use Smart Meter information to zero in on who has repeating cycles of large electric useage spikes with a 12/12 cycle and putting these residences on a list to investigate for Marijuana Grow House purposes. True that in most places the police must give a "specifically named person" warrant to the power company for this information...someone they already have a suspicion about, but not always.

If the power company is owned by the City or another govt agency their books are open to random pattern searches. Smart Meter's report to computers which are capable of delievering any address that uses a spike of power consistantly in a set pattern (12/12).

I read that the City of Austin, Texas owns the power company there and they have an open door policy for the police to run any type of analysis they wish. Furthermore the police in Austin ARE using this system to Identify all addresses with such power usage to specifically indentify growers.

Gets worse...I have also read that these meters are able to identify exactly what is running in a home. Turns out that almost every electrical appliance has a frequency signiture which is picked up by the meter. They can tell if we are using an electric toothbrush or a toaster! So...what's to prevent police from asking the Power company to report all addresses associated with the frequency signiture of a Ballast or a HID light?

Does anyone have any other info on this? I wonder how frequent this is being used to identify someone with a grow in both legal and illegal areas? Anyone ever hear first hand of a grower being arrested based on Smart Meter Identification?

 

[marrdogg]

Damn!

Damn!

Smart Meters are back in the news it seems. Recently I received a Smart Meter without my knowledge. Being curious I did some googling and then watched a few youtube videos on Smart Meters...and became Paranoid!

Now my dog barks and I run to the window!

According to what I''ve read - two states, Ohio and Texas are starting to use Smart Meter information to zero in on who has repeating cycles of large electric useage spikes with a 12/12 cycle and putting these residences on a list to investigate for Marijuana Grow House purposes. True that in most places the police must give a "specifically named person" warrant to the power company for this information...someone they already have a suspicion about, but not always.

If the power company is owned by the City or another govt agency their books are open to random pattern searches. Smart Meter's report to computers which are capable of delievering any address that uses a spike of power consistantly in a set pattern (12/12).

I read that the City of Austin, Texas owns the power company there and they have an open door policy for the police to run any type of analysis they wish. Furthermore the police in Austin ARE using this system to Identify all addresses with such power usage to specifically indentify growers.

Gets worse...I have also read that these meters are able to identify exactly what is running in a home. Turns out that almost every electrical appliance has a frequency signiture which is picked up by the meter. They can tell if we are using an electric toothbrush or a toaster! So...what's to prevent police from asking the Power company to report all addresses associated with the frequency signiture of a Ballast or a HID light?

Does anyone have any other info on this? I wonder how frequent this is being used to identify someone with a grow in both legal and illegal areas? Anyone ever hear first hand of a grower being arrested based on Smart Meter Identification?

Now I'm paranoid as fuck, that's damn good info my man.

 

[dreadlocks]

use an uninterpretable power supply(UPS). the frequency signature for that should be like charging batteries.

 

[TripleDraw27]

Id like to add a little insight on these meters. Firstly, theres a huge sticky about it in security forum with the same questions alot of you are asking. Secondly, 4kw for 5 years with smart meter here.

Of course alot of what everyone is saying is a legit concern, but you guys have also underestimated the advantage of the smart meter.

I have said this before, for example...how many busts have there been verified via smart meter? How many busts have occured do to smell? More from smell. What does that smart meter do for Meter reader guy? It keeps him far away in his cozy truck away from anything. Sure peoples game is " tight ", but why have a fresh nose clinking around in your meterz?

As far as smart meter busts. I know for a fact these meters have been in Cali for several years now, and I cannot come up with any busts. Why would a company who supplies power and makes money from you, sabotage just that? Well, yes it does? happen, and probably will...for obscene amounts of wattage. I have been on the 3rd tier for 3 years. Guess what? The hobby MECHANIC across the street, who Ive known for 8 years, is in tier 3 for wattage too. His garage ( his shop ) , oozes power, t5s all night...all sorts of shit.

Of course im only talking about what I know, in my county. I know other states are diff. But look at the logic of keeping distance between u and the pastey meter reader. Is this a bunch of naive thinking? Not at all, I am no fool, and know very well this type of tech is bad for us. But Ill tell you what, instead of reader guy messing around outside, i usually see him 200 yards away with an In&out large dr.pepper clicking buttons in his rig. One less turd away from me the better. It a tough subject with alot of scattered data. Stay vigilant is the only thing we all can agree on.

 

[Fanner50]

UPS frequency signitures and tomatos

UPS frequency signitures and tomatos

use an uninterpretable power supply(UPS). the frequency signature for that should be like charging batteries.

Thanks Dreadlock,

I have a friend that sells UPS's. I will ask him about this and how these work in possibly changing the frequency signiture of grow equipment when running through a UPS. Although this might take care of the frequency signiture we are still showing the reoccuring power spikes for 12/12 over a 60 day period.

The only solution I've come up with is to hide the girls and have a couple of sacrificial tomato plants to substitute into the room if I ever get any unwelcome visitors asking to look around...Tomato sandwiches are good too!

 

[supermanlives]

of course the police will use this resource. legal or not. i bet the tracking software already exists