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<br /> - <br /> - <br />Reolacement Meter Technolol!V Alternatives I <br />1. Touch Read <br /> The next step up from the remote read meters which Arden Hills currently uses is a touch -. <br /> read system. This system uses the same basic meter body with a different head. The <br /> head, which is the top portion of the meter containing the number dials, has, in addition to <br /> the dials, an electronic reader connected by wires to a small touch pad located outside the I <br /> home or the building. This system also has the need for a meter reader to physically walk <br /> to each touch pad, but instead of reading the remote dials he simply touches the touch pad <br /> with a reading gun he carries. In a matter of seconds the reading data is automatically I <br /> transferred to a solid state interrogator carried by the meter reader and stored in memory. <br /> The data provided by the meter includes the meter serial number, the billing name and <br /> address, and the gallons. This information is stored until down loaded into a computer. I <br /> This computer with the proper software will then upload the interrogator with <br /> preprogrammed route information for the next day's use. <br /> a. Costs I <br /> The cost of the touch read meter and outdoor touch pad materials and installation <br /> range from $ 110 to $130 per unit installed. The touch pad reading gun! I <br /> interrogator costs approximately $3,500. <br />2. Radio Read I <br /> The second step up a radio read system. Again, this system uses the same meter body, <br /> but the head of the meter is wired to a battery powered radio transmitter which is _- <br /> typically installed close to the meter and as high in the meter room as possible. This <br /> transmitter only operates on command from the interrogator. The interrogator can be a <br /> small portable unit with a range of 100 to 300 feet or a large more powerful van mounted I <br /> unit which is capable ofreading meters about as fast as you would drive down the road. <br /> Each unit, however interrogates the meters and stores the information as the touch read <br /> system does including meter serial number, customer name and address, and gallons. As I <br /> with the touch read system, the hand held interrogator is down loaded into a properly <br /> equipped computer. On the van mounted unit it is a matter of removing the diskettes and <br /> reading them into the utility database. I <br /> a. Costs <br /> The installed cost of the radio read meter and transmitter ranges from $190 to I <br /> $230 each. The cost of the portable hand held interrogator is approximately <br /> $8,500. The large van mounted unit is approximately $65,000. I <br />3. Phone Read <br /> The phone read system also uses the same meter body as the touch read and radio read I <br /> alternatives. The meter head is designed so that when it is called, it transmits information <br /> asked of it on the customers telephone wires to the base computer. This information can <br /> simply be the gallon reading. The more expensive units can detect any tampering, make I <br /> demand readings, final readings etc. The telephone read system will need its own <br /> 2 .. <br /> I <br />