Checkout the new job posting on the forum: http://tsa.cc/forum_new/jobs-1/traffic-maintenance-worker-city-of-walnut-creek/

Next TSA Meeting

• Date: Thursday, May 23rd

• Place: Jose Higuera Adobe Park at 1830 N Park Victoria Dr, Milpitas, CA 95035

• Cross Streets: Near the intersection of N Park Victoria Dr. and Wessex Pl.

• Time: 9:30am

 The speaker will be Chad Spaltro with Iteris. He will be discussing “Bicycle & Motor Vehicle differentiation during detection.”

In our presentation we will demonstrate how SmartCycle from Iteris will enable you to detect cars and bikes with astounding accuracy

Chad Spaltro with Iteris will be discussing at the upcoming TSA. The CA-MUTCD requires that all new traffic signals and any modified by 50% or more shall have bicycle detection installed at each approach and in each lane. Type D loops, Video Detection, and Radar are mentioned as ways to accomplish this task. These technologies vary in dependability of detecting bikes AND they all detect cars very well. The CA-MUTCD also requires that bikes get longer clearance or min. green time than the cars. What? How does the controller know when it’s a bike placing the call? In our presentation we will demonstrate how SmartCycle from Iteris will enable you to detect cars and bikes with astounding accuracy as well as differentiate between the two while placing bike calls to one channel and vehicle calls to another channel for more efficient use of cycle time on both coordinated and free running signals.

TSA September Minutes

• 9:50 Started meeting:

• Reading of the minute

• Introductions were made

• Financial report was submitted

• Announcements of events were discussed

• 10:00 Bill Marshall with ELTEC spoke to us about The Topic: The ABC’s of solar power for traffic systems and the importance of proper design of solar your system Solar power is used in traffic signal design from a simple flashing beacon to a traffic signal for a fire house in the wilderness. He also discussed new laws on the subject. Not worry too much if you missed his presentation. If you have a solar project that you want help with, he said “Contact me and I will help you solar size your project for free”. He was very knowledgeable and gave us a bit of an education in how important it is to size your project correctly. Thank You Mr. Marshall

• 10:45 We all said good-by to Frank McCauley of South San Francisco. He has retired

• 11:40 Meeting adjourned.

What happens when you type “I love traffic” into a Google search?

Boredom and curiosity caused me to ask myself, what happens when you type “I love traffic” into a Google search? The answer is a simple but challenging traffic games came up. http://armorgames.com/play/3515/i-love-traffic

This game apparently can be downloaded onto your smartphone. I personally have not tried it due to not having a smartphone. I got to level #15 see how you can do. See if you have better traffic signal abilities. Good Luck

Posted for Dave Mooso by Don Wood

Our current newsletter is available in PDF form by clicking the link below.

TSA Feb. 2013 Newsletter V1.5

Next TSA meeting:

• Date: Feb. 20th
• Place: 550 North Canal Street, South San Francisco, Ca.
• Time: 9:30Am

Come to the next meeting to help bid Frank McAuley a fond farewell as he retires from the City of South San Francisco, after many fun years as a leader and friend in our industry.

The ABC’s Of Solar Power For Traffic Systems

Solar power is becoming very commonplace in the traffic industry, not only to power flashing beacons but to power many other devices including cameras and communication devices.

This presentation will be explained in easy-to-understand language, the ABC’s of solar system design and system sizing. The attendee will be able to understand what kind of information he/she should expect from a solar vendor as well as relevant questions to ask about solar system design and sizing. Several examples of applications and the resulting solar sizing will be reviewed. A discussion of power management and what it means will be included as part of the presentation.

The attendee will also understand where solar power will work today and where it will not work because of cost or system size.

About the speakers company ELTEC:

The speaker is from ELTEC. They are a 50 year old manufacturing company of time clock/time switches used primarily used in school zone flashing bacons. There programmable clocks are also used to manage gate & door time locks, pump control, park lighting, HVAC on/off timing functions, or anywhere you need to operate a device with pre-set times. They can monitor, program and manage their switches remotely from a central computer. Their equipment is can be powered with dedicated 120v AC or solar DC.

By David Mooso

You may recall that 3M’s Scotchkote was banned in California and many other states due to it having VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) in it. Scotchkote is typically used as a coating over wire splices as a moisture- and corrosion-resistant outer seal on vinyl tape applications which are subjected to excessive amounts of oil and moisture. Scotchkote FD coating is a newly formulated version of the original 3M Scotchkote. According to 3M this new Electrical Coating, unlike the original Scotchkote coating, this new version uses a VOC-exempt solvent so it is essentially VOC free.

According to 3M these are the advantages of using their product.

• Suitable for direct burial, direct water immersion or aboveground applications.
• Provides vinyl tapes with extra oil-, moisture- and corrosion-resistant layer of “Functionally and flexible coating for problem areas.
• Functionally and chemically equivalent to the original Scotchkote coating. Therefore, when the materials dry (and the solvent vaporizes), the applied coating.” product remaining on both is virtually the same.

Scotchkote Fast Drying Information:

• Easy to use; reduces application time.
• Does not require heat, moisture or other preparation prior to or subsequent to application Self-Contained Applicator
• Quick and easy application with a brush-top, 15-oz. can
• No waste if container is resealed after use.

3M™ Scotchkote™ FD coating is sold in all states.

• *Original Scotchkote coating is restricted from sale in:

California (CA), Connecticut (CT), Washington, D.C (DC), Delaware (DE), Illinois
(IL), Indiana (IN), Massachusetts (MA), Maryland (MD), Maine (ME), Michigan
(MI), New Hampshire (NH), New Jersey (NJ), New York (NY), Ohio (OH),
Pennsylvania (PA), Rhode Island (RI), and Virginia (VA).

Call 3M Customer Service at 800-245-3573 if you have questions.

by Dave Mooso

September 5, 2012

9:50

• Started meeting:
• Reading of the minute
• Introductions were made
• Financial report was submitted
• Announcements of events were discussed

10:00

• General info about our industry was discussed: Wire theft in our area and solutions for wire theft.
• A new traffic signal system that allows cars and signal cabinets to communicate wirelessly with one another has been activated. It may help with reducing traffic accidents.

10:15

• IP Addressing Training and trouble shooting was started. We discussed IP addressing did hands on training including trouble shooting using IP addresses. We had fun learning together.

11:40

• Meeting adjourned.
• Thank You City of San Jose staff, JD from Western Pacific and Rod Dexter from JAM for putting the training together.

Our next TSA Meeting will be:

Wednesday, September 5th, 09:30 AM, at the City Of San Jose, 1404 Mabury Road, San Jose, California. Our speaker will be Jon Dendy from Western Pacific Signal and others will lead discussion on implementing IP addresses on multiple devices with hands on demonstrations.

Please join us! All interested members and guests are invited.

More information can be found in the Augustl 2012 Newletter.

Select the Forum link above.

Our next TSA Meeting will be:

Wednesday, April 18th, 09:30 AM, at the City Of Cupertino, 10981 Franco Ct, Cupertino, California. Our speaker will be Jon Dendy from Western Pacific Signal to discuss IP programming and networking concepts.

• Introduction and overview of the OSI Communications model.
• Local and networking concepts utilizing Ethernet.
• Internetworking concepts utilizing TCP/IP.
• Basic network design and functionality for traffic signal networks.
• Network utilities and troubleshooting concepts.

Please join us! All interested members and guests are invited.

More information can be found in the April 2012 Newletter.

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Sorry for the site outage this weekend. We had to be shut down to do some upgrades because we were hacked by some slimy creature(s). Hopefully all is better now.