11-22-2015, 09:46 PM
I used to read electric meters. I got so good at it that I could read one as I walked/jogged by or from 50 feet away. All I needed was to be able to see enough of the general direction of the dials. They are like clocks. The first dial on the right (read right to left) is like the second hand, the next one to the left is the minute hand, and so on. Each dial is 10x more than the one to the right of it. Also, the dials go in opposite directions to each other, so the 1x gear runs clockwise, the 10x counter-clockwise, ...etc... The only problem was if a dial was near a number, but not on it or past it, and the reader misreads it. But we were trained to always consider the preceding number in this instance. Like a clock, if the hour hand is pretty much on the one, but the minute hand is at 55 minutes, it's 12:55, not 1:55.
That said, most mistakes in reads would be in the first few numbers, as the hand held computers have programmed the routes meter numbers, along with the previous months' reads, and the expected number range for the current months read based on averages taken from the history of that particular meter. So if a reader was off on the first or second number (basically, pennies and/or dollars) it might fall within an expected range, so no red flags. If the read was off on one of the next dials to the left (tens or hundreds of dollars) The readers' computer should've "flagged" that read, and force the reader to re-enter the numbers (meaning they should re-read it). A fast or lazy reader may just re-enter the number from memory (remember a reader may be halfway out of the yard before the computer alarm goes off).
Check to be sure it was an actual "mis-read" rather than an estimate. Estimates can happen if a route or a meter is not physically read.
Trivia: Before the hand-held computers were used, meter readers would be given a stack of papers with all their meters to read, along with the estimated range of numbers each meter read should fall in. Nefarious readers would sit on the curb on their route, and would write numbers in for each meter. Numbers that would fall within the range of numbers that they were given. This act was called "curbstoning." The computer eliminated that possibility (mostly), as the expected range for each meter is not evident to the reader. It only flags a read when it is out of range.
CW2V
That said, most mistakes in reads would be in the first few numbers, as the hand held computers have programmed the routes meter numbers, along with the previous months' reads, and the expected number range for the current months read based on averages taken from the history of that particular meter. So if a reader was off on the first or second number (basically, pennies and/or dollars) it might fall within an expected range, so no red flags. If the read was off on one of the next dials to the left (tens or hundreds of dollars) The readers' computer should've "flagged" that read, and force the reader to re-enter the numbers (meaning they should re-read it). A fast or lazy reader may just re-enter the number from memory (remember a reader may be halfway out of the yard before the computer alarm goes off).
Check to be sure it was an actual "mis-read" rather than an estimate. Estimates can happen if a route or a meter is not physically read.
Trivia: Before the hand-held computers were used, meter readers would be given a stack of papers with all their meters to read, along with the estimated range of numbers each meter read should fall in. Nefarious readers would sit on the curb on their route, and would write numbers in for each meter. Numbers that would fall within the range of numbers that they were given. This act was called "curbstoning." The computer eliminated that possibility (mostly), as the expected range for each meter is not evident to the reader. It only flags a read when it is out of range.
CW2V
