December 18, 2024 • 29 mins
Archie Stafford Director of Unmanned systems at Red Six Solutions, a Birmingham based advisory consulting firm for drone operation weighs in on the recent drone sightings. Then Gerald O’Connor, the National Codes and Standards manager at the National Electrical Manufacturers Association talks about Holiday electrical and fire safety.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Viewpoint, Alabama. I'm JT.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And we've been hearing about the drones and not much
is known. Well, finally we have some answers joining me now.
Is an expert on drones or should I call them
unmanned systems? Archie Stafford is the director of Unmanned Systems
here in Birmingham.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Archie, thanks for coming in.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Yeah, happy to be here this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
So are you surprised by anything that we've been talking
about that people have been singing in Jersey and these
other places with drones flying over and everybody's losing their
minds on this.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Yeah, I think is the things become more popular, people
see more. Obviously where they started in New Jersey, there's
a military facility there where they actually do quite a
bit of testing up there, Picks Tanny Arsenal. They do
weapons testing and other things there. However, a lot of it,
I think now has been proven to be known aircraft.
There's probably some stuff up there, but for the most part,
I think that most of this has been explained. And
(00:51):
it's as a person who loves aviation. When I walk outside,
I typically look up and look for airpoints. Ninety nine
point nine percent of the population doesn't ever look up
stung things that are up there. Now people have a
reason when they walk outside to look up and see
things that maybe they're normally A significant number of them
have been traffic coming into the busiest airspace in the
United States. So and it's been explained there are going
(01:13):
to be a few that they're looking into. But I
think for the most part it's been once things start
to get out of hand, somebody tells somebody and you
end up with that whole scenario.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, let's talk about drones and the majority of people,
I think you know them as just a hobby or
you see them at wedding receptions and get great footage.
People are now doing many movies, you know, with their
iPhone cameras and their drone cameras, and it's actually turned
out to be some pretty good footage, you know, and
kind of fun to work with. So how big are
these drones that most people use. I mean, we've heard
(01:44):
the ones in Jersey. All their sizes SUVs or dining
room tables, and most drones are what two three feet
if that.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Some of them are even pocket size. They've basically become
cell phone sized with four rods on them and can
go fly around. That's your typical hobbyist type stuff. For
the movie stuff, they're larger. They're carrying true movie style cameras,
things like that fifty sixty thousand dollars cameras. Those will
get a little bit larger, not quite even the size
of a small car. Obviously, now with the whole drone
(02:13):
taxi thing becoming popular, there are some things that are
out there that are the size of a vehicle type thing.
But for the most part, the biggest limiting factor on
that so far has been battery technology. The more something weighs,
the harder it is to pick it up. And unfortunately,
with fuel type things, as you burn the fuel off,
you get lighter. With batteries, that's not the case. So
they're not near as a fishent. The larger they get,
(02:34):
well let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I mean, I remember when I was a kid, we'd
have these airplane clubs the kids wouldn't get involved with,
and those were actually fuel, Yes, not jet fuel, I guess,
but a certain kind of fuel for the smaller models.
Can they use liquid fuel on these drones?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
So yes, my actual I started with my drunk career started.
I'm a radio control guy. I grew up flying radio
control model airplanes. I still do. You guys have fantastic
facilities here in Birmingham er as a club just north
of here. There's a great hobby shop here. But yeah,
we grew up. I was starting. They were basically alcohol
based fuel type airplanes that still existing.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I can smell it. Nut Remember guys in my neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
All the way up to now, we've got and you've
seen the videos, very large turbine jets that run on
their true jet engines, that perform just like everything else.
And that's that's actually what I typically fought.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Now, what part of the world do you live in?
I'm indicator?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Okay, So when you got do you start as a
kid in school and the clubs and things like that,
and just.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Never, you know, moved on. You do it all the
time now.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
So I went to school for at University of Tennessee
for computer science and then kind of came back and
decided that's not kind of what I wanted to do
with the that's that's cool in all, but you have
the I really enjoyed the aviation piece. Knew some people
that were in the unmanned systems drone type things in
the late nineties and got into it and have been
doing tactical type UAVs ever since. And company I now
(03:55):
work for we focus primarily on counter your drone counter
uas operations. So exactly the type of stuff of being
able to detect and what do you do with these things?
That's our purpose. We don't build the systems. We're the
ones that actually text test the systems that other folks booth.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
We're talking with Archie Stafford, who's the director of the
Unmanned Systems in Birmingham. Basically drones around our area here,
so I would imagine I've heard anywhere from seven hundred
and fifty thousand to a million drones across our country,
people that are enjoying the fun of the hobby and whatnot.
At what point does it get concerning for you and
the authorities when it comes to these drones. Obviously flying
(04:29):
around airports is not a good idea size, I would
imagine starts to bring in some concern So what are
red flags when it comes to these drones right now
for the authorities.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
So I think it's your typical things that would be
considered unsafe if you're out in the middle of like
I fly local Birmingham r Seafield. Here we're out, We've
got an RCA club. There's not a whole lot out there.
We fly in a known to airspace. We're not doing anything,
but there are times that people are doing videography and
things like that. They may be in a more crowded
space if you're filming a wedding, but you don't want
to fly over people. Obviously, these things, even if they
(04:58):
weigh half of a pound or a pound falling from
two hundred feet can cause some serious injury to or
death if they're even larger ones. So obviously there's a
ton of rules out there. Don't fly anywhere near airports,
don't fly over populated areas, that kind of things. There
are waivers around some of that stuff. There are organizations
at a phone in where one of them, a company
I work for, is actually based out of DC red
(05:18):
six Solutions, and we do a lot of work inside
the Beltway in other places for different organizations testing some
of these systems, and we phone in places that a
lot of people don't get to fly it.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
There's a huge process to go through.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Is there regulations around these things or can I just
go get a drone and do whatever I pretty much
want to as long as I leave airplanes alone.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
So there are regulations out there. There's a couple of organizations,
one of the Academy Model Aeronauts, it's been kind of
the national organization that oversees all the way back through
the small model airplanes you were talking about. They work
very closely with the FAA. It's Model Aircraft dot Org.
There's a ton of information on Hey, these are the
things you can do. These are the things you can't
do if you want to do it commercially. They have
what's called the FA's Part one of seven tests that
(05:57):
you have to take, and it's basically walked you through, Hey,
these are the processes and how to operate these things safely,
and once again the things to do and not do.
But I think a lot of it is just it's
a little bit of common sense, like if you're standing
here and you don't mean to throw this thing at you,
I probably shouldn't fly it across or fly it over
your head.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So there are laws around some of these things too,
and obvious laws for the drones themselves and the pilots
that fly them.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
As well.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So when you talk about what's been happening recently in
this big alarm that's gone off, are you concerned that
nobody's really coming up with answers or they don't want
to answer. The government's like, well, you know, there's nothing
to worry about here. It's not I ran or China.
I don't worry about that. Well, the Chinese spy balloon
kind of got everybody worked up. You know how long
ago was that a.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Year or so?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
A year ago, and now we've got this whole thing
around the military basis. We talked about some other installations.
And when you don't fill the answers with questions about
the reality of what's happening, if there's a void there,
the conspiracy theorists are going to fill it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Up pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
So we've seen all kinds of things from their nuclear
power plants down there, somebody snuck you know, titanium or
all of this, and I mean to all kinds of
nefarious activities. So your thoughts and the reaction from authorities
on this or lack thereof.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I think they could be telling the complete truth. If
we knew what every single one of these were, you
would still have a significant portion of the population that
doesn't trust the government wouldn't believe it. So while there
probably are a few that are out there, one of
the things I point out is I was going to
do something nefarious with this. Why would I put lights
on it? Why would I do the things that make
me visible to make it easier for somebody to.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Well, you kind of blend in with the other ones
that are harmless.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
But if it's dark, you don't see it anyway.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
So now, there are certain aviation safety lights that are
on airplanes, and you can see they've got the red
and the green, they've got the strobe lights. These are
the things that identify airplanes from a helicopter. Helicopter has
different flashes and different placement on the lights and things,
and you can look at a lot of these things
and go, yeah, that's a man.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
That's an airliner. That right there is a smaller aircraft.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Did Donald Trump say shoot these things down? Did he
throw that out there?
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I mean orrtually yes he did.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
He did. Not a good idea, right.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
The problem is is the fa have used this. If
you have your small hobbyist four ounce strown in your hand,
it is viewed from the FA's perspective is exactly the
same aircraft as a seven forty seven with man people.
They are classified as aircraft. You shoot one of these
things down, it is absolutely a felony, and it is
treated the same as if you shot down a mannd airliner.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
If it's outsize of a basketball and you shoot it down,
they look at that just as they would an airplane.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Everything the FA considers that flies is a is an
aircraft and.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
The rule the laws apply to that.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
So you can be pulled over, not for shooting them down,
but if you're operating a drone and it's considered you know,
aviation or you know the FAA is involved. I mean,
you can get in hot water pretty quick if you're
not doing the right things.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Absolutely, they've arrested a couple of people there at Boston.
I think they got them last night or whatever for flying,
and they're charging them from trespassing. There's some other things
if you're out violating some of the FA's rules. Where
the fine started twenty five thirty thousand dollars and they've
gone after some people. There's a guy in Denver I
believe that several hundred thousand dollars worth of fines that
they got him that was just basically flying and doing
things he shouldn't have been doing, and they've kind of
(09:07):
cracked down Initially, we're gonna make examples of people to
kind of stop this. So and I think what's happening
now is now that it's out there, you've got people, Hey, this.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Is gonna be fun.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
I'm gonna go throw my drone up, and this thing
just continues to go on because now you've got guys that.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Are everybody wants to everybody just wants to be a.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Part of this and be part of the issue that.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Were Are we seeing the tip of the iceberg when
it comes to drones and the applications for everyday people,
I mean with delivering pizzas or delivering documents or whatever.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
And I think one of the things that people don't
realize is drones have been around for we're getting close
to ninety years now. They've started using with the end
of World War One. The kettering bug was actually basically
a completely unmanned thing that they put weaponized and kind
of launched it and said, hey, go fly whatever direction
and it would crash somewhere and if you were lucky
there was something there, and then you got the Germans
and during World War Two did a lot of stuff
(09:57):
with the V ones and V two's. Marily, one of
our first jobs was working at a drone factory in Dayton, Ohio,
actually building radio plane aircraft for the United States military
in the forties, and then over the last probably once
the battery technology has gotten there, over the last probably
ten years or so, as it gets better, we started
seeing them put cameras on there, some of those things
that are making them a lot more practical. But you're
(10:18):
absolutely right. I think we're probably very still at the
infancy of things. You're going to see some of the
things are going to be a challenge that let's say
Amazon's delivery, It's going to be a real challenge for
somebody to deliver a TV to your house, especially if
you live in an apartment building. How do you do
these things?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Where?
Speaker 4 (10:34):
How do you get it to that specific house? And
how big does this thing have to be if I
want to carry a TV?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And what happens and who's liable when the drone drops
six TV off at three feet up in the air
and it crashes.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
So one thing we are seeing though, is Transatlantic type
flights for FedEx and UPS and others where the aircraft
has a person on it for takeoff and landing. But
what they've had to do on say a sixteen hour flight,
is you've got to carry multiple crews because of the timeouts.
You've got eight hours basically the pilots can be up there.
So you've got a group of guys that are paying
several hundred to couple hundred thousand dollars a year that
are sitting there that are not actually doing anything for
(11:06):
a significant portion of the flight. So what they're starting
to do is, Okay, let's do man person for takeoff
and landing. We can use the automated technology to fly
us across the Pacific and any other the same crew
can do the landings. And you're going to see a
lot of that. I think you're going to see more
of the unmanned ground vehicles with some of the car
technology and things like that that will allow UPS trucks
and things to drive between known locations.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
With the automated driving.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I'd kind of like to take a drone to work
every morning instead of getting on the interstate.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
And there are places I know in Dubai that are
actually doing some of the air taxi testing now where
you can go crumb into one of these things and
it's not a control stick or anything else. It basically
push a button and it's going somewhere and you're along
for the ride and let's go, or whatever happens happens.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
All right, One last question on the drones in Jersey
and these others that are bringing up all these questions
right now, are you concerned whatsoever?
Speaker 3 (11:52):
No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
I've seen enough out there that and seen enough things
we've seen from over where they are being used. Weaponis
especially Ukraine in Russia and other places that if somebody's
going to do something, they're not going to advertise it
this way, it would happen. And right now we've got systems,
we get people out there. I think, Well, I guess
I said, I believe a lot of this is ninety
nine point nine percent of them are probably known. There
(12:13):
are a few things that are out there that are unexplained,
but we deal with that with UFO technology and things
like that too. Like a lot of that's been explained,
but there's always going to be a few where we're
not sure what it is.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Well, I'm glad to hear that coming from an expert.
Sleep better tonight for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Archie Stafford, Director of the Unmanned Systems in Birmingham.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Archie, thank you so much for coming in.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Happy to be here.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 7 (12:37):
The Disabled American Veterans, or the DAV, are on a
mission to help address long standing challenges that impact military
veterans and beyond.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
Hello.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
I'm John Mounce, and this week on Viewpoint, I'm talking
with Dan Claire. He's the chief Communications and Outreach officer
with the DAV. Dan joins us today to talk about
the dav's Patriot Boot Camp. Dan, welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Hey, thanks for having us, and thanks for thinking about.
Speaker 7 (12:59):
Veterans, especially around the holidays, because sometimes we get so
busy we don't think about those people who are keeping
America safe, and after they've done their service, we owe
them a bit of a debt of gratitude.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Absolutely, I agree with that, and I think what veterans want.
They don't want a bunch of sympathy, but they want
just to be able to contribute again and give back,
and that's what DAV is all about.
Speaker 7 (13:21):
So tell me a little bit about this program, the
Dav's Patriot Boot Camp.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Why was it started?
Speaker 5 (13:27):
You know, it was actually founded by civilians people in
the tech community. Is the one of the founders. His
grandfather was an Air Force veteran. He had asked a conference,
what can we do or could we do more as
a community to welcome veterans and empower them to be
business owners, And that's where Patriot boot Camp started. It
(13:50):
empowers founders in the veteran and military community with an
entrepreneurship startup education. They get thousands of dollars worth of mentorship,
and at the end of the day, they also walk
away as kind of a community within the community. Every
cohort of veterans and spouses who go through this program
at no cost to them, are part of a group
(14:11):
now and they support each other. The mentors continue to
support them and the relationships go on on and it
changes their path, changes the trajectory of their future after
they leave military service.
Speaker 7 (14:23):
And DAN It is so important because as many of
the life skills and the skills that they learn on
the battlefield or training for the battlefield, when they return
to civilian life, sometimes they need some help transitioning back
into that civilian world. And we don't just mean getting
menial jobs working fast food or driving uber We're talking
about jobs that could actually result in a second life
(14:45):
something beyond the military, like running a business.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Yeah. Absolutely, I mean DAVY helps connect veterans with jobs.
We have a career pair program to do about one hundred
career pairs a year, and we help veterans get benefits.
We're there on base when their transition out of service
and where they're afterwards to walk them through a pretty
difficult process to try and get their benefits. But we
looked at that and we said, well, we're connecting veterans
(15:09):
with jobs, we're connecting them with benefits, we're connecting them
with healthcare. What if we could make veterans, What if
we could empower them to be job creators and benefits providers?
And that's what really drew us to Patriot boot Camp
as a program. We believe in the potential of these veterans,
we believe in what they can give back, and we
just want to make it accessible to them.
Speaker 7 (15:31):
So who should be getting involved with this event, like
all veterans or are all entrepreneurs? Who should be should
be getting this message.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
You know, we're looking for active duty military veterans and
spouses to participate. Especially military spouses can have a really
hard time because you know, they transition every time they
move somewhere to a new career often, and entrepreneurship is
kind of a workaround for that. It's open to all
of those folks, but it's also open to people who
(16:01):
can give back to the veteran community or who want
to give back. You don't have to have served to
serve those who did. If you're a CEO, if you're
a CFO, if you work in funding, if you're a coach,
there's an opportunity for you to help veterans to do
this program. And we need mentors. We have about thirty
five to fifty people participate in every cohort, and those
(16:22):
are your veterans and your spousees. So we need about
thirty five to fifty mentors who can give back. And
the folks who participate in the program love it and
say they'd come back. And the folks who mentors say
it was life changing for them too, and they stay
in touch with these veterans and they just see the meaning,
especially they're fellow entrepreneurs they see. I think it's just
(16:44):
a thrill for them to help these veterans avoid the
mistakes that they made early on, and of course they're
people we all want to help.
Speaker 7 (16:52):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. My
name is John Mountsin speaking with Dan Clair, the chief
Communications and Outreach Officer with a DAV and Dan. Something
I don't want to gloss over is the the disabled
American veterans. But this isn't just for disabled veterans, right,
this is for all, not just veterans, but even active
military and families.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
It sure is a lot of veterans don't necessarily identify
as being disabled even when they are, so we don't
want to bar the door for veterans who want to
get in and participate. A lot of those veterans find
out that there are benefits that they had earned that
they're not taking advantage of, and DAV helps them there
as well. And of course it's really a community. So
(17:33):
the spouses are very important to us. It's always important
that we're taking care of them, and it's always important
that we're adding mentors too, because we need them desperately.
Speaker 7 (17:42):
And how can interested entrepreneurs get involved with your program.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
Sign up at Patriot boot Camp dot org. If you
know a veteran entrepreneur or a spouse entrepreneur who qualifies
for the program. We're looking for folks who have already
kind of made some serious steps towards finding their own venture,
and then we just want to we just want to
give them this great experience. It's offered it no charge.
(18:07):
Just visit Patriot boot Camp dot organ sign up. It's
a free program, thousands of dollars worth of value. You
just have to get yourself here and we'll take care
of the rest.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
So can you share some success stories that have come
out of Dav's Patriot boot Camp?
Speaker 8 (18:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (18:20):
Absolutely. I mean I think of Julie's Sargent. She was
a former Army medic. Her company, Cardinal Medical Solutions. It
actually deploys emergency medical services for emergency medical workers, first
responders firefighters during disasters. They deployed just behind the front
lines of the disaster and they're there so that people
(18:42):
coming off of the line as a first responder can
get some help. Zubian Wuda here's an Army veteran. He
was blinded. He created a company called Think to Zoom
They have this prosthetic device that he's designed. It allows
vision impaired people to turn text into audio and they
can also zoom in, so if you're impaired visually, you
(19:03):
can see a lot better than you could otherwise. Just great,
great ventures. One of them Mike Malinsky, he invented this
thing called Tadpole swimsuit. He saw a serious danger to
children is the fear of drowning. It's every parent's nightmare.
This is a wet suit that floats.
Speaker 7 (19:20):
And I love these stories you mentioned because it's a
lot of these people they wouldn't know, they wouldn't have
the life experience to be able to do a lot
of things are doing. But because of what they've experienced
in the military, they they've seen, they've seen a need
and they've seen a solution that we might not have
known from the from the civilian side. So it's great
that they're getting involved in these ways in doing these projects.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Veterans are very creative people. They faced adversity. Every veterans
faced some serious adversity, whether or not they've been you know,
deployed in combat and spouses as god knows, they've they've
had diversity that they've faced as well. Patriot boot Camps
just it's about empowerment, it's about getting them a mission.
These veterans gave up the prime years that a lot
(20:02):
of the billionaires in the tech industry were working in
their parents' criss They gave up that time to serve
their country, and now we're just trying to get them
back to the point where they can contribute again. And
we're seeing that once they have the network behind them,
they're doing amazing things. I mean, seriously, we're talking about
using AI to predict cancer. We're talking about just these
(20:23):
amazing companies that are really designed to change the world.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
Dan Claire, I'm excited about this. For more information for
our listeners, for veterans who are interested, or entrepreneurs who
are interested, where can they go.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
They can go to Patriot Bootcamp dot org. And if
you have any listeners who need help with benefits, transportation,
or people who just want to give back, they can
visit us at DAV dot org.
Speaker 7 (20:45):
Dan Claire, the chief Communications and Outreach officer with the
DAV thank you so much for joining us this week
on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
Hey, thank you. It's a service to veterans that you've
performed today and just to your audience, if you know
someone and you make a recommend, you never know you
could change a life.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
This is the Alabama Radio Network. I'm John Mounts and
finally today on Viewpoint, Alabama. As the holiday season draws near,
you know that live tree, or I guess it was
at one time a live tree that you have in
your living room. It may be drying out in those
lights on your house, they may be overheating. How to
keep your winter wonderland from turning into a holiday nightmare.
Joining me now is Gerald O'Connor. He is the Technical
(21:22):
Marketing Engineer with the National Codes and Standards and Industry
Relations at Eton and a member of the National Electrical
Manufacturers Association Task Force. Jared, welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 8 (21:32):
Thank you, thank you for inviting me in to speak.
Speaker 7 (21:36):
We've all seen National Lampoon's Christmas vacation. But all those
lights on his house, that's really no laughing matter because
they draw a lot of current. And when you have
that many lights on there, you could have short circuits
or overloaded circuits and you're pretty much asking for a
fire in that situation, aren't you.
Speaker 8 (21:50):
There is a high potential if you're overloading your circuits,
but how do you know what Usually your circuit breaker
will trip that is based on an overload depending on
the type of circuit breaker that is being used in
the installation, there are various types. If you live in
an older home, you would be using a thermal mag
(22:14):
circuit breaker, which is the technology that came after fuses.
And then I believe in the nineteen eighties GFCI technology
was implemented into circuit breakers, and then in the nineties
AFCI technology, which so GFCI is ground fault circuit interrupter
and that is to protect people from shock hazard and
(22:36):
AFCI is arc fault and that protects people's home and
property from fire. So if a staple or something goes
through a wire, there's not enough resistance to actually trip
the overcurrent device, but over a long duration of time,
that staple will actually heat up.
Speaker 7 (22:55):
That's a good point. I was thinking about that because
when I'm putting lights. I've got lights on my house.
When I'm putting them up there, I noticed there was
a couple of times when the staple went right through
the court. I was like, well, that's not good and
had to go get some needlenosed pliers and pull it
back out. There's a lot of ways we can accidentally
cause one of these shorts without meaning.
Speaker 8 (23:11):
To absolutely and that's where AFCI technology it was first
introduced into the code, I believe in nineteen ninety nine
and then became a requirement in two thousand and two.
Or bedroom receptacles.
Speaker 7 (23:27):
And also when you're lighting your house, a lot of
times you have those lights that they string one to
another to another to another. How many is too many?
Like how much? Because I know you can three or four,
but theoretically you could put five hundred in a row,
but you shouldn't. What is the usual? What is there
a standard I guess for how many you can connect
before you should probably do another home run.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
There really is no standard. It's based on the load
calculations of the actual amount of lights you're putting in. So,
for instance, an incandescent bulb draws more power than a
LED significantly more. So with the new technologies and lighting
that are out there, you're capable of placing many more
(24:09):
LED lights on a circuit than what we used to
be able to do when we used incandescent bulbs. So
it depends how old are your lights that you're using
for your holiday decorations. If you're using n fifteen year
old lights strings of lights, more than likely those are
(24:29):
going to be incandescent lighting and that would draw more power,
so you would be restricted.
Speaker 7 (24:36):
Jared, Let's talk about the tree itself, because the tree
is you know, it was at one point alive and
it was very you know, moist, and it was of
course not a fire hazard at all. But after you've
let it dry out for a few weeks, especially in
your nice, warm, dry house, those things can also become
very dry, and when you're surrounding them with a bunch
of hot light bulbs, or even if they're you know,
(24:56):
kind of warm light bulbs, that can be a fire
hazard too. What's your best advice in terms of making
sure your tree does not become a fire hazard if.
Speaker 8 (25:04):
You are using a real tree, I would recommend inspecting
your strings of light to make sure that they are
not damaged. Avoid placing any type of furniture on an
extension cord or covering things with heavy objects, running them
under your carpets and placing furniture over them. If that
(25:24):
cord gets pinched, it could easily cause a fire. Ensure
that if depending on the type of lights you're using,
make sure those light bulbs are screwed in tightly. If
they're loose and they're just barely making contact, that could
be causing an arc, and that arc could be the
ignission source. Keep your tree well watered so that your
(25:44):
tree does not have the potential of drying out so fast.
Check to see your strands of light, how many blots
or how many what the opacity of a string of
light that you're using, so if you still had the
boxes of those, just ensure that you're not overloading a circuit,
and check your extension cords, ensure that they're not damaged
(26:07):
and the strings of lights are not damaged, and then
you can also one of the big things for this
is if you have arc falt circuit interrupters installed. They
make them in a circuit breaker style and they also
make them as a receptacle that you can actually replace
the receptacle you're plugging your lights into with an AFCI
protected device and that should protect you from arking.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
Sure.
Speaker 7 (26:31):
One of the things I noticed on my own tree
a couple of years ago was the cord that was
running to the lights on the tree actually managed to
dip itself into the water in the tree stand. I
assume that's a pretty big hazard because you've got water
and electricity. Usually those things don't mix.
Speaker 8 (26:47):
That would be where GFCI protection would come in. It
was first incorporated into the National Electrical Code in the
late sixties early seventies, and that was a ground fault
circuit ruptor, and they were the first requirement was in
bathrooms at the bathroom receptacle next to your sink, and
(27:08):
that is for if you drop a hair dryer into
a sink or a curling iron, if you were to
reach into that water with a GFCI protected circuit, that
circuit would trip. Having grown fault protection, having arc fault
protection gives you a large amount of protection when it
comes to fire and shock hazard.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
And jerill two more things. And we've talked mostly about
electrical problems, but one of the big causes of fire
is actually open flames. A lot of people use candles
for decoration this time of year. I think that's probably
not always the best, especially if you're not going to
keep an eye on those candles.
Speaker 8 (27:47):
There are the amount of fires that are caused from
not only candles, but cooking cakey proper steps associated with
ensuring that open flames are not going to have the
ability to hit curtains.
Speaker 7 (28:02):
And your one final thing I wanted to mention is
as beautiful as is. The fireplace can also be a
source of fires, not so much spreading to your living room,
but a fire that starts in the chimney and ultimately
sets the roof of your house on fire.
Speaker 8 (28:17):
Correct So ensuring that if you do use a wood
burning fireplace over the years, that build up that happens
inside that flu it does need proper maintenance and cleaning.
So ensuring that your home is properly maintained, not only
from an electrical standpoint, but from the exhaust from your dryer,
(28:44):
your laundry equipment. If that gets clogged with lint, it
can back up into your dryer and potentially cause a
fire your fireplace the embers being able to ensuring you
have the proper protection so that those embers, if the
wood pops and spreads embers, it does not have the
(29:06):
ability to make contact with your carpet or flimmable items nearby.
Speaker 7 (29:11):
Gerald O'Connor he is the technical marketing engineer with the
National Codes and Standards and industry relations that Eton and
a member of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association Task Force. Gerald,
thank you so much for being my guest this week
on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 8 (29:24):
Absolutely thank you for having me, and I wish everyone
happy holidays and a happy New Year and safe and
safe for a happy and safe.
Speaker 7 (29:32):
And you've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama. My name is
John Mount, and this is the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (29:37):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
Welcome to Viewpoint, Alabama. I'm JT.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
And we've been hearing about the drones and not much
is known. Well, finally we have some answers joining me now.
Is an expert on drones or should I call them
unmanned systems? Archie Stafford is the director of Unmanned Systems
here in Birmingham.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Archie, thanks for coming in.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Yeah, happy to be here this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
So are you surprised by anything that we've been talking
about that people have been singing in Jersey and these
other places with drones flying over and everybody's losing their
minds on this.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Yeah, I think is the things become more popular, people
see more. Obviously where they started in New Jersey, there's
a military facility there where they actually do quite a
bit of testing up there, Picks Tanny Arsenal. They do
weapons testing and other things there. However, a lot of it,
I think now has been proven to be known aircraft.
There's probably some stuff up there, but for the most part,
I think that most of this has been explained. And
(00:51):
it's as a person who loves aviation. When I walk outside,
I typically look up and look for airpoints. Ninety nine
point nine percent of the population doesn't ever look up
stung things that are up there. Now people have a
reason when they walk outside to look up and see
things that maybe they're normally A significant number of them
have been traffic coming into the busiest airspace in the
United States. So and it's been explained there are going
(01:13):
to be a few that they're looking into. But I
think for the most part it's been once things start
to get out of hand, somebody tells somebody and you
end up with that whole scenario.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Well, let's talk about drones and the majority of people,
I think you know them as just a hobby or
you see them at wedding receptions and get great footage.
People are now doing many movies, you know, with their
iPhone cameras and their drone cameras, and it's actually turned
out to be some pretty good footage, you know, and
kind of fun to work with. So how big are
these drones that most people use. I mean, we've heard
(01:44):
the ones in Jersey. All their sizes SUVs or dining
room tables, and most drones are what two three feet
if that.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Some of them are even pocket size. They've basically become
cell phone sized with four rods on them and can
go fly around. That's your typical hobbyist type stuff. For
the movie stuff, they're larger. They're carrying true movie style cameras,
things like that fifty sixty thousand dollars cameras. Those will
get a little bit larger, not quite even the size
of a small car. Obviously, now with the whole drone
(02:13):
taxi thing becoming popular, there are some things that are
out there that are the size of a vehicle type thing.
But for the most part, the biggest limiting factor on
that so far has been battery technology. The more something weighs,
the harder it is to pick it up. And unfortunately,
with fuel type things, as you burn the fuel off,
you get lighter. With batteries, that's not the case. So
they're not near as a fishent. The larger they get,
(02:34):
well let's talk about that.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I mean, I remember when I was a kid, we'd
have these airplane clubs the kids wouldn't get involved with,
and those were actually fuel, Yes, not jet fuel, I guess,
but a certain kind of fuel for the smaller models.
Can they use liquid fuel on these drones?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
So yes, my actual I started with my drunk career started.
I'm a radio control guy. I grew up flying radio
control model airplanes. I still do. You guys have fantastic
facilities here in Birmingham er as a club just north
of here. There's a great hobby shop here. But yeah,
we grew up. I was starting. They were basically alcohol
based fuel type airplanes that still existing.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
I can smell it. Nut Remember guys in my neighborhood.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
All the way up to now, we've got and you've
seen the videos, very large turbine jets that run on
their true jet engines, that perform just like everything else.
And that's that's actually what I typically fought.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Now, what part of the world do you live in?
I'm indicator?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Okay, So when you got do you start as a
kid in school and the clubs and things like that,
and just.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Never, you know, moved on. You do it all the
time now.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
So I went to school for at University of Tennessee
for computer science and then kind of came back and
decided that's not kind of what I wanted to do
with the that's that's cool in all, but you have
the I really enjoyed the aviation piece. Knew some people
that were in the unmanned systems drone type things in
the late nineties and got into it and have been
doing tactical type UAVs ever since. And company I now
(03:55):
work for we focus primarily on counter your drone counter
uas operations. So exactly the type of stuff of being
able to detect and what do you do with these things?
That's our purpose. We don't build the systems. We're the
ones that actually text test the systems that other folks booth.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
We're talking with Archie Stafford, who's the director of the
Unmanned Systems in Birmingham. Basically drones around our area here,
so I would imagine I've heard anywhere from seven hundred
and fifty thousand to a million drones across our country,
people that are enjoying the fun of the hobby and whatnot.
At what point does it get concerning for you and
the authorities when it comes to these drones. Obviously flying
(04:29):
around airports is not a good idea size, I would
imagine starts to bring in some concern So what are
red flags when it comes to these drones right now
for the authorities.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
So I think it's your typical things that would be
considered unsafe if you're out in the middle of like
I fly local Birmingham r Seafield. Here we're out, We've
got an RCA club. There's not a whole lot out there.
We fly in a known to airspace. We're not doing anything,
but there are times that people are doing videography and
things like that. They may be in a more crowded
space if you're filming a wedding, but you don't want
to fly over people. Obviously, these things, even if they
(04:58):
weigh half of a pound or a pound falling from
two hundred feet can cause some serious injury to or
death if they're even larger ones. So obviously there's a
ton of rules out there. Don't fly anywhere near airports,
don't fly over populated areas, that kind of things. There
are waivers around some of that stuff. There are organizations
at a phone in where one of them, a company
I work for, is actually based out of DC red
(05:18):
six Solutions, and we do a lot of work inside
the Beltway in other places for different organizations testing some
of these systems, and we phone in places that a
lot of people don't get to fly it.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
There's a huge process to go through.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Is there regulations around these things or can I just
go get a drone and do whatever I pretty much
want to as long as I leave airplanes alone.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
So there are regulations out there. There's a couple of organizations,
one of the Academy Model Aeronauts, it's been kind of
the national organization that oversees all the way back through
the small model airplanes you were talking about. They work
very closely with the FAA. It's Model Aircraft dot Org.
There's a ton of information on Hey, these are the
things you can do. These are the things you can't
do if you want to do it commercially. They have
what's called the FA's Part one of seven tests that
(05:57):
you have to take, and it's basically walked you through, Hey,
these are the processes and how to operate these things safely,
and once again the things to do and not do.
But I think a lot of it is just it's
a little bit of common sense, like if you're standing
here and you don't mean to throw this thing at you,
I probably shouldn't fly it across or fly it over
your head.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
So there are laws around some of these things too,
and obvious laws for the drones themselves and the pilots
that fly them.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
As well.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So when you talk about what's been happening recently in
this big alarm that's gone off, are you concerned that
nobody's really coming up with answers or they don't want
to answer. The government's like, well, you know, there's nothing
to worry about here. It's not I ran or China.
I don't worry about that. Well, the Chinese spy balloon
kind of got everybody worked up. You know how long
ago was that a.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Year or so?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
A year ago, and now we've got this whole thing
around the military basis. We talked about some other installations.
And when you don't fill the answers with questions about
the reality of what's happening, if there's a void there,
the conspiracy theorists are going to fill it.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Up pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
So we've seen all kinds of things from their nuclear
power plants down there, somebody snuck you know, titanium or
all of this, and I mean to all kinds of
nefarious activities. So your thoughts and the reaction from authorities
on this or lack thereof.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
I think they could be telling the complete truth. If
we knew what every single one of these were, you
would still have a significant portion of the population that
doesn't trust the government wouldn't believe it. So while there
probably are a few that are out there, one of
the things I point out is I was going to
do something nefarious with this. Why would I put lights
on it? Why would I do the things that make
me visible to make it easier for somebody to.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Well, you kind of blend in with the other ones
that are harmless.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
But if it's dark, you don't see it anyway.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
So now, there are certain aviation safety lights that are
on airplanes, and you can see they've got the red
and the green, they've got the strobe lights. These are
the things that identify airplanes from a helicopter. Helicopter has
different flashes and different placement on the lights and things,
and you can look at a lot of these things
and go, yeah, that's a man.
Speaker 3 (07:53):
That's an airliner. That right there is a smaller aircraft.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Did Donald Trump say shoot these things down? Did he
throw that out there?
Speaker 3 (07:59):
I mean orrtually yes he did.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
He did. Not a good idea, right.
Speaker 4 (08:03):
The problem is is the fa have used this. If
you have your small hobbyist four ounce strown in your hand,
it is viewed from the FA's perspective is exactly the
same aircraft as a seven forty seven with man people.
They are classified as aircraft. You shoot one of these
things down, it is absolutely a felony, and it is
treated the same as if you shot down a mannd airliner.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
If it's outsize of a basketball and you shoot it down,
they look at that just as they would an airplane.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Everything the FA considers that flies is a is an
aircraft and.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
The rule the laws apply to that.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
So you can be pulled over, not for shooting them down,
but if you're operating a drone and it's considered you know,
aviation or you know the FAA is involved. I mean,
you can get in hot water pretty quick if you're
not doing the right things.
Speaker 5 (08:44):
Oh.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Absolutely, they've arrested a couple of people there at Boston.
I think they got them last night or whatever for flying,
and they're charging them from trespassing. There's some other things
if you're out violating some of the FA's rules. Where
the fine started twenty five thirty thousand dollars and they've
gone after some people. There's a guy in Denver I
believe that several hundred thousand dollars worth of fines that
they got him that was just basically flying and doing
things he shouldn't have been doing, and they've kind of
(09:07):
cracked down Initially, we're gonna make examples of people to
kind of stop this. So and I think what's happening
now is now that it's out there, you've got people, Hey, this.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
Is gonna be fun.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
I'm gonna go throw my drone up, and this thing
just continues to go on because now you've got guys that.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Are everybody wants to everybody just wants to be a.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Part of this and be part of the issue that.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
Were Are we seeing the tip of the iceberg when
it comes to drones and the applications for everyday people,
I mean with delivering pizzas or delivering documents or whatever.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
And I think one of the things that people don't
realize is drones have been around for we're getting close
to ninety years now. They've started using with the end
of World War One. The kettering bug was actually basically
a completely unmanned thing that they put weaponized and kind
of launched it and said, hey, go fly whatever direction
and it would crash somewhere and if you were lucky
there was something there, and then you got the Germans
and during World War Two did a lot of stuff
(09:57):
with the V ones and V two's. Marily, one of
our first jobs was working at a drone factory in Dayton, Ohio,
actually building radio plane aircraft for the United States military
in the forties, and then over the last probably once
the battery technology has gotten there, over the last probably
ten years or so, as it gets better, we started
seeing them put cameras on there, some of those things
that are making them a lot more practical. But you're
(10:18):
absolutely right. I think we're probably very still at the
infancy of things. You're going to see some of the
things are going to be a challenge that let's say
Amazon's delivery, It's going to be a real challenge for
somebody to deliver a TV to your house, especially if
you live in an apartment building. How do you do
these things?
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Where?
Speaker 4 (10:34):
How do you get it to that specific house? And
how big does this thing have to be if I
want to carry a TV?
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And what happens and who's liable when the drone drops
six TV off at three feet up in the air
and it crashes.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
So one thing we are seeing though, is Transatlantic type
flights for FedEx and UPS and others where the aircraft
has a person on it for takeoff and landing. But
what they've had to do on say a sixteen hour flight,
is you've got to carry multiple crews because of the timeouts.
You've got eight hours basically the pilots can be up there.
So you've got a group of guys that are paying
several hundred to couple hundred thousand dollars a year that
are sitting there that are not actually doing anything for
(11:06):
a significant portion of the flight. So what they're starting
to do is, Okay, let's do man person for takeoff
and landing. We can use the automated technology to fly
us across the Pacific and any other the same crew
can do the landings. And you're going to see a
lot of that. I think you're going to see more
of the unmanned ground vehicles with some of the car
technology and things like that that will allow UPS trucks
and things to drive between known locations.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
With the automated driving.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I'd kind of like to take a drone to work
every morning instead of getting on the interstate.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
And there are places I know in Dubai that are
actually doing some of the air taxi testing now where
you can go crumb into one of these things and
it's not a control stick or anything else. It basically
push a button and it's going somewhere and you're along
for the ride and let's go, or whatever happens happens.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
All right, One last question on the drones in Jersey
and these others that are bringing up all these questions
right now, are you concerned whatsoever?
Speaker 3 (11:52):
No, not at all.
Speaker 4 (11:53):
I've seen enough out there that and seen enough things
we've seen from over where they are being used. Weaponis
especially Ukraine in Russia and other places that if somebody's
going to do something, they're not going to advertise it
this way, it would happen. And right now we've got systems,
we get people out there. I think, Well, I guess
I said, I believe a lot of this is ninety
nine point nine percent of them are probably known. There
(12:13):
are a few things that are out there that are unexplained,
but we deal with that with UFO technology and things
like that too. Like a lot of that's been explained,
but there's always going to be a few where we're
not sure what it is.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Well, I'm glad to hear that coming from an expert.
Sleep better tonight for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Archie Stafford, Director of the Unmanned Systems in Birmingham.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
Archie, thank you so much for coming in.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
Happy to be here.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
You're listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program from
the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 7 (12:37):
The Disabled American Veterans, or the DAV, are on a
mission to help address long standing challenges that impact military
veterans and beyond.
Speaker 5 (12:45):
Hello.
Speaker 7 (12:46):
I'm John Mounce, and this week on Viewpoint, I'm talking
with Dan Claire. He's the chief Communications and Outreach officer
with the DAV. Dan joins us today to talk about
the dav's Patriot Boot Camp. Dan, welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Hey, thanks for having us, and thanks for thinking about.
Speaker 7 (12:59):
Veterans, especially around the holidays, because sometimes we get so
busy we don't think about those people who are keeping
America safe, and after they've done their service, we owe
them a bit of a debt of gratitude.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Absolutely, I agree with that, and I think what veterans want.
They don't want a bunch of sympathy, but they want
just to be able to contribute again and give back,
and that's what DAV is all about.
Speaker 7 (13:21):
So tell me a little bit about this program, the
Dav's Patriot Boot Camp.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Why was it started?
Speaker 5 (13:27):
You know, it was actually founded by civilians people in
the tech community. Is the one of the founders. His
grandfather was an Air Force veteran. He had asked a conference,
what can we do or could we do more as
a community to welcome veterans and empower them to be
business owners, And that's where Patriot boot Camp started. It
(13:50):
empowers founders in the veteran and military community with an
entrepreneurship startup education. They get thousands of dollars worth of mentorship,
and at the end of the day, they also walk
away as kind of a community within the community. Every
cohort of veterans and spouses who go through this program
at no cost to them, are part of a group
(14:11):
now and they support each other. The mentors continue to
support them and the relationships go on on and it
changes their path, changes the trajectory of their future after
they leave military service.
Speaker 7 (14:23):
And DAN It is so important because as many of
the life skills and the skills that they learn on
the battlefield or training for the battlefield, when they return
to civilian life, sometimes they need some help transitioning back
into that civilian world. And we don't just mean getting
menial jobs working fast food or driving uber We're talking
about jobs that could actually result in a second life
(14:45):
something beyond the military, like running a business.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Yeah. Absolutely, I mean DAVY helps connect veterans with jobs.
We have a career pair program to do about one hundred
career pairs a year, and we help veterans get benefits.
We're there on base when their transition out of service
and where they're afterwards to walk them through a pretty
difficult process to try and get their benefits. But we
looked at that and we said, well, we're connecting veterans
(15:09):
with jobs, we're connecting them with benefits, we're connecting them
with healthcare. What if we could make veterans, What if
we could empower them to be job creators and benefits providers?
And that's what really drew us to Patriot boot Camp
as a program. We believe in the potential of these veterans,
we believe in what they can give back, and we
just want to make it accessible to them.
Speaker 7 (15:31):
So who should be getting involved with this event, like
all veterans or are all entrepreneurs? Who should be should
be getting this message.
Speaker 5 (15:39):
You know, we're looking for active duty military veterans and
spouses to participate. Especially military spouses can have a really
hard time because you know, they transition every time they
move somewhere to a new career often, and entrepreneurship is
kind of a workaround for that. It's open to all
of those folks, but it's also open to people who
(16:01):
can give back to the veteran community or who want
to give back. You don't have to have served to
serve those who did. If you're a CEO, if you're
a CFO, if you work in funding, if you're a coach,
there's an opportunity for you to help veterans to do
this program. And we need mentors. We have about thirty
five to fifty people participate in every cohort, and those
(16:22):
are your veterans and your spousees. So we need about
thirty five to fifty mentors who can give back. And
the folks who participate in the program love it and
say they'd come back. And the folks who mentors say
it was life changing for them too, and they stay
in touch with these veterans and they just see the meaning,
especially they're fellow entrepreneurs they see. I think it's just
(16:44):
a thrill for them to help these veterans avoid the
mistakes that they made early on, and of course they're
people we all want to help.
Speaker 7 (16:52):
This is Viewpoint Alabama on the Alabama Radio Network. My
name is John Mountsin speaking with Dan Clair, the chief
Communications and Outreach Officer with a DAV and Dan. Something
I don't want to gloss over is the the disabled
American veterans. But this isn't just for disabled veterans, right,
this is for all, not just veterans, but even active
military and families.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
It sure is a lot of veterans don't necessarily identify
as being disabled even when they are, so we don't
want to bar the door for veterans who want to
get in and participate. A lot of those veterans find
out that there are benefits that they had earned that
they're not taking advantage of, and DAV helps them there
as well. And of course it's really a community. So
(17:33):
the spouses are very important to us. It's always important
that we're taking care of them, and it's always important
that we're adding mentors too, because we need them desperately.
Speaker 7 (17:42):
And how can interested entrepreneurs get involved with your program.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
Sign up at Patriot boot Camp dot org. If you
know a veteran entrepreneur or a spouse entrepreneur who qualifies
for the program. We're looking for folks who have already
kind of made some serious steps towards finding their own venture,
and then we just want to we just want to
give them this great experience. It's offered it no charge.
(18:07):
Just visit Patriot boot Camp dot organ sign up. It's
a free program, thousands of dollars worth of value. You
just have to get yourself here and we'll take care
of the rest.
Speaker 7 (18:15):
So can you share some success stories that have come
out of Dav's Patriot boot Camp?
Speaker 8 (18:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 5 (18:20):
Absolutely. I mean I think of Julie's Sargent. She was
a former Army medic. Her company, Cardinal Medical Solutions. It
actually deploys emergency medical services for emergency medical workers, first
responders firefighters during disasters. They deployed just behind the front
lines of the disaster and they're there so that people
(18:42):
coming off of the line as a first responder can
get some help. Zubian Wuda here's an Army veteran. He
was blinded. He created a company called Think to Zoom
They have this prosthetic device that he's designed. It allows
vision impaired people to turn text into audio and they
can also zoom in, so if you're impaired visually, you
(19:03):
can see a lot better than you could otherwise. Just great,
great ventures. One of them Mike Malinsky, he invented this
thing called Tadpole swimsuit. He saw a serious danger to
children is the fear of drowning. It's every parent's nightmare.
This is a wet suit that floats.
Speaker 7 (19:20):
And I love these stories you mentioned because it's a
lot of these people they wouldn't know, they wouldn't have
the life experience to be able to do a lot
of things are doing. But because of what they've experienced
in the military, they they've seen, they've seen a need
and they've seen a solution that we might not have
known from the from the civilian side. So it's great
that they're getting involved in these ways in doing these projects.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
Veterans are very creative people. They faced adversity. Every veterans
faced some serious adversity, whether or not they've been you know,
deployed in combat and spouses as god knows, they've they've
had diversity that they've faced as well. Patriot boot Camps
just it's about empowerment, it's about getting them a mission.
These veterans gave up the prime years that a lot
(20:02):
of the billionaires in the tech industry were working in
their parents' criss They gave up that time to serve
their country, and now we're just trying to get them
back to the point where they can contribute again. And
we're seeing that once they have the network behind them,
they're doing amazing things. I mean, seriously, we're talking about
using AI to predict cancer. We're talking about just these
(20:23):
amazing companies that are really designed to change the world.
Speaker 7 (20:27):
Dan Claire, I'm excited about this. For more information for
our listeners, for veterans who are interested, or entrepreneurs who
are interested, where can they go.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
They can go to Patriot Bootcamp dot org. And if
you have any listeners who need help with benefits, transportation,
or people who just want to give back, they can
visit us at DAV dot org.
Speaker 7 (20:45):
Dan Claire, the chief Communications and Outreach officer with the
DAV thank you so much for joining us this week
on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 5 (20:51):
Hey, thank you. It's a service to veterans that you've
performed today and just to your audience, if you know
someone and you make a recommend, you never know you
could change a life.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
This is the Alabama Radio Network. I'm John Mounts and
finally today on Viewpoint, Alabama. As the holiday season draws near,
you know that live tree, or I guess it was
at one time a live tree that you have in
your living room. It may be drying out in those
lights on your house, they may be overheating. How to
keep your winter wonderland from turning into a holiday nightmare.
Joining me now is Gerald O'Connor. He is the Technical
(21:22):
Marketing Engineer with the National Codes and Standards and Industry
Relations at Eton and a member of the National Electrical
Manufacturers Association Task Force. Jared, welcome to Viewpoint.
Speaker 8 (21:32):
Thank you, thank you for inviting me in to speak.
Speaker 7 (21:36):
We've all seen National Lampoon's Christmas vacation. But all those
lights on his house, that's really no laughing matter because
they draw a lot of current. And when you have
that many lights on there, you could have short circuits
or overloaded circuits and you're pretty much asking for a
fire in that situation, aren't you.
Speaker 8 (21:50):
There is a high potential if you're overloading your circuits,
but how do you know what Usually your circuit breaker
will trip that is based on an overload depending on
the type of circuit breaker that is being used in
the installation, there are various types. If you live in
an older home, you would be using a thermal mag
(22:14):
circuit breaker, which is the technology that came after fuses.
And then I believe in the nineteen eighties GFCI technology
was implemented into circuit breakers, and then in the nineties
AFCI technology, which so GFCI is ground fault circuit interrupter
and that is to protect people from shock hazard and
(22:36):
AFCI is arc fault and that protects people's home and
property from fire. So if a staple or something goes
through a wire, there's not enough resistance to actually trip
the overcurrent device, but over a long duration of time,
that staple will actually heat up.
Speaker 7 (22:55):
That's a good point. I was thinking about that because
when I'm putting lights. I've got lights on my house.
When I'm putting them up there, I noticed there was
a couple of times when the staple went right through
the court. I was like, well, that's not good and
had to go get some needlenosed pliers and pull it
back out. There's a lot of ways we can accidentally
cause one of these shorts without meaning.
Speaker 8 (23:11):
To absolutely and that's where AFCI technology it was first
introduced into the code, I believe in nineteen ninety nine
and then became a requirement in two thousand and two.
Or bedroom receptacles.
Speaker 7 (23:27):
And also when you're lighting your house, a lot of
times you have those lights that they string one to
another to another to another. How many is too many?
Like how much? Because I know you can three or four,
but theoretically you could put five hundred in a row,
but you shouldn't. What is the usual? What is there
a standard I guess for how many you can connect
before you should probably do another home run.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
There really is no standard. It's based on the load
calculations of the actual amount of lights you're putting in. So,
for instance, an incandescent bulb draws more power than a
LED significantly more. So with the new technologies and lighting
that are out there, you're capable of placing many more
(24:09):
LED lights on a circuit than what we used to
be able to do when we used incandescent bulbs. So
it depends how old are your lights that you're using
for your holiday decorations. If you're using n fifteen year
old lights strings of lights, more than likely those are
(24:29):
going to be incandescent lighting and that would draw more power,
so you would be restricted.
Speaker 7 (24:36):
Jared, Let's talk about the tree itself, because the tree
is you know, it was at one point alive and
it was very you know, moist, and it was of
course not a fire hazard at all. But after you've
let it dry out for a few weeks, especially in
your nice, warm, dry house, those things can also become
very dry, and when you're surrounding them with a bunch
of hot light bulbs, or even if they're you know,
(24:56):
kind of warm light bulbs, that can be a fire
hazard too. What's your best advice in terms of making
sure your tree does not become a fire hazard if.
Speaker 8 (25:04):
You are using a real tree, I would recommend inspecting
your strings of light to make sure that they are
not damaged. Avoid placing any type of furniture on an
extension cord or covering things with heavy objects, running them
under your carpets and placing furniture over them. If that
(25:24):
cord gets pinched, it could easily cause a fire. Ensure
that if depending on the type of lights you're using,
make sure those light bulbs are screwed in tightly. If
they're loose and they're just barely making contact, that could
be causing an arc, and that arc could be the
ignission source. Keep your tree well watered so that your
(25:44):
tree does not have the potential of drying out so fast.
Check to see your strands of light, how many blots
or how many what the opacity of a string of
light that you're using, so if you still had the
boxes of those, just ensure that you're not overloading a circuit,
and check your extension cords, ensure that they're not damaged
(26:07):
and the strings of lights are not damaged, and then
you can also one of the big things for this
is if you have arc falt circuit interrupters installed. They
make them in a circuit breaker style and they also
make them as a receptacle that you can actually replace
the receptacle you're plugging your lights into with an AFCI
protected device and that should protect you from arking.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
Sure.
Speaker 7 (26:31):
One of the things I noticed on my own tree
a couple of years ago was the cord that was
running to the lights on the tree actually managed to
dip itself into the water in the tree stand. I
assume that's a pretty big hazard because you've got water
and electricity. Usually those things don't mix.
Speaker 8 (26:47):
That would be where GFCI protection would come in. It
was first incorporated into the National Electrical Code in the
late sixties early seventies, and that was a ground fault
circuit ruptor, and they were the first requirement was in
bathrooms at the bathroom receptacle next to your sink, and
(27:08):
that is for if you drop a hair dryer into
a sink or a curling iron, if you were to
reach into that water with a GFCI protected circuit, that
circuit would trip. Having grown fault protection, having arc fault
protection gives you a large amount of protection when it
comes to fire and shock hazard.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
And jerill two more things. And we've talked mostly about
electrical problems, but one of the big causes of fire
is actually open flames. A lot of people use candles
for decoration this time of year. I think that's probably
not always the best, especially if you're not going to
keep an eye on those candles.
Speaker 8 (27:47):
There are the amount of fires that are caused from
not only candles, but cooking cakey proper steps associated with
ensuring that open flames are not going to have the
ability to hit curtains.
Speaker 7 (28:02):
And your one final thing I wanted to mention is
as beautiful as is. The fireplace can also be a
source of fires, not so much spreading to your living room,
but a fire that starts in the chimney and ultimately
sets the roof of your house on fire.
Speaker 8 (28:17):
Correct So ensuring that if you do use a wood
burning fireplace over the years, that build up that happens
inside that flu it does need proper maintenance and cleaning.
So ensuring that your home is properly maintained, not only
from an electrical standpoint, but from the exhaust from your dryer,
(28:44):
your laundry equipment. If that gets clogged with lint, it
can back up into your dryer and potentially cause a
fire your fireplace the embers being able to ensuring you
have the proper protection so that those embers, if the
wood pops and spreads embers, it does not have the
(29:06):
ability to make contact with your carpet or flimmable items nearby.
Speaker 7 (29:11):
Gerald O'Connor he is the technical marketing engineer with the
National Codes and Standards and industry relations that Eton and
a member of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association Task Force. Gerald,
thank you so much for being my guest this week
on Viewpoint Alabama.
Speaker 8 (29:24):
Absolutely thank you for having me, and I wish everyone
happy holidays and a happy New Year and safe and
safe for a happy and safe.
Speaker 7 (29:32):
And you've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama. My name is
John Mount, and this is the Alabama Radio Network.
Speaker 6 (29:37):
You've been listening to Viewpoint Alabama, a public affairs program
from the Alabama Radio Network. The opinions expressed on Viewpoint
Alabama are not necessarily those of the staff, management, or
advertisers of this station.
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