1. An apparatus configured to measure ground induced currents (GIC) temporarily flowing in high-voltage, 50 Hz or 60 Hz power transmission conductors, comprising:
(a) a securing means for securing the apparatus to the power transmission conductor;
(b) a flux concentrator having a toroidal ferrite core and winding wound around the core configured to capture a magnetic field from the power transmission conductor;
(c) a hall-effect sensor assembly configured to receive the magnetic field from the flux concentrator and produce a voltage signal corresponding to the magnetic field; and
(d) an electronics module configured to receive the voltage signal from the hall-effect sensor assembly, conduct measurements, and transmit the measurements to a local access point.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the securing means comprises a jaw assembly having a first jaw pivotally connected to a second jaw to allow the jaw assembly to move between an open position for receiving the power transmission conductor therein and a closed position for securing the apparatus to the power transmission conductor.
3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the jaw assembly further includes a clamping assembly operably connected to the first and second jaws, the clamping assembly being adapted to provide a clamping force around the power transmission conductor, thereby securing the apparatus to the power transmission conductor.
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hall-effect sensor assembly includes:
(a) circuit board having a pair of filtering capacitors; and
(b) an integrated circuit hall-effect sensor chip mounted to the circuit board.
5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the toroidal ferrite core is a split core toroidal ferrite core to permit the toroidal ferrite core to move between the open and closed positions with the first and second jaws.
6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hall-effect sensor assembly is positioned in a gap of the flux concentrator.
7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measurements are transmitted to the local access point by a radio transceiver of the electronics module.
8. The apparatus according to claim 7, further including an antenna assembly electrically connected to the radio transceiver to enable the radio transceiver to transmit and receive data to and from the local access point, the antenna assembly having an antenna ball to reduce corona.
9. The apparatus according to claim 1, further including a power harvesting coil electrically connected to the electronics module and configured to harvest power from the power transmission conductor and produce a voltage for powering the apparatus.
10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the power harvesting coil harvests power inductively from the magnetic field of the power transmission conductor.
11. An apparatus configured to measure geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) temporarily flowing in high-voltage, 50 Hz or 60 Hz power transmission conductors, comprising:
(a) a flux concentrator having a toroidal ferrite core and winding wound around the core configured to capture a magnetic field from the power transmission conductor, the flux concentrator being formed of first and second halves;
(b) a hall-effect sensor assembly configured to receive the magnetic field from the flux concentrator and produce a voltage signal corresponding to the magnetic field; and
(c) an electronics module configured to receive the voltage signal from the hall-effect sensor assembly, conduct measurements, and transmit the measurements to a local access point.
12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the first and second flux concentrator halves form a gap therebetween when the apparatus is secured to the power transmission conductor.
13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the hall-effect sensor assembly is positioned in the gap between the first and second halves of the flux concentrator to obtain consistent readings of the magnetic field.
14. The apparatus according to claim 11, further including a jaw assembly configured to secure the apparatus to the power transmission conductor, the jaw assembly having first and second jaws pivotally connected to each other to allow the jaw assembly to move between an open position where the power transmission conductor is received therein and a closed position where the apparatus is secured to the power transmission conductor.
15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the first half of the flux concentrator is secured to the first jaw and the second half of the flux concentrator is secured to the second jaw, such that when the jaw assembly is in the closed position, a gap is formed between the first and second halves of the flux concentrator.
16. A method for measuring geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) flowing in high-voltage, 50 Hz or 60 Hz power transmission conductors, comprising the steps of:
(a) securing an apparatus configured to measure GIC to a high-voltage conductor supplying a transformer, the apparatus having:
(i) a flux concentrator;
(ii) a hall-effect sensor assembly; and
(iii) an electronics module;
(b) using the flux concentrator to capture a magnetic field from the power transmission conductor;
(c) using the hall-effect sensor assembly to receive the magnetic field from the flux concentrator and provide the electronics module with a voltage signal corresponding to the magnetic field; and
(d) using the electronics module to process the voltage signal from the hall-effect sensor and transmit data to a local access point.
17. The method according to claim 16, further including the step of splitting the voltage signal from the hall-effect sensor assembly to provide measurement of both alternating and direct currents.
18. The method according to claim 17, further including the step of using a direct current measurement circuit to process a first one of the split voltage signal and an alternating current measurement circuit to process a second one of the split voltage signal.
19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the direct current measurement provides an indication of GIC level.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A seed of the hybrid corn variety CH619141, produced by crossing a first plant of variety I180421 with a second plant of variety 17INI20, wherein representative seed of said varieties I180421 and 17INI20 have been deposited under ATCC Accession numbers PTA-7863 and 203923, respectively.
2. A plant of the hybrid corn variety CH619141 grown from the seed of claim 1.
3. A plant part of the plant of claim 2.
4. The plant part of claim 3, further defined as an ear, ovule, pollen or cell.
5. A tissue culture of cells of the plant of claim 2.
6. The tissue culture of claim 5, wherein cells of the tissue culture are from a tissue selected from the group consisting of leaf, pollen, embryo, root, root tip, anther, silk, flower, kernel, ear, cob, husk, stalk and meristem.
7. A seed of the hybrid corn variety CH619141, produced by crossing a first plant of variety I180421 with a second plant of variety 17INI20, wherein representative seed of said varieties I180421 and 17INI20 have been deposited under ATCC Accession numbers PTA-7863 and 203923, respectively, wherein one or both of the first and second plants further comprises a transgene.
8. The seed of claim 7, wherein the transgene confers a trait selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, waxy starch, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.
9. The seed of claim 7, wherein the first and second plants each comprise a different transgene.
10. A seed of the hybrid corn variety CH619141, produced by crossing a first plant of variety I180421 with a second plant of variety 17INI20, wherein representative seed of said varieties I180421 and 17INI20 have been deposited under ATCC Accession numbers PTA-7863 and PTA-203923, respectively, wherein one or both of the first and second plants further comprises a single locus conversion.
11. The seed of claim 10, wherein the single locus conversion confers a trait selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, waxy starch, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.
12. A method of producing hybrid corn seed comprising crossing a plant of variety I180421 with a plant of variety 17INI20, wherein representative seed of variety I180421 and variety 17INI20 have been deposited under ATCC Accession numbers PTA-7863 and 203923, respectively.
13. The method of claim 12, defined as comprising pollinating a plant of inbred variety I180421 with pollen from a plant of variety 17INI20.
14. The method of claim 12, defined as comprising pollinating a plant of inbred variety 17INI20 with pollen from a plant of variety I180421.
15. A method for producing corn grain comprising growing the plant of claim 2 until grain is produced and collecting the grain.
16. A method of introducing a heritable trait into hybrid corn variety CH619141 comprising the steps of:
(a) crossing a first plant of a first inbred corn variety selected from the group consisting of variety I180421 and variety 17INI20 with another corn plant that heritably carries the trait to produce progeny plants, at least some of which heritably carry the trait, wherein representative samples of seed of variety I180421 and variety 17INI20 have been deposited under ATCC Accession numbers PTA-7863 and 203923, respectively;
(b) selecting progeny plants that heritably carry the trait;
(c) crossing selected progeny plants with another plant of the first inbred corn variety to produce next-generation progeny plants at least some of which heritably carry the trait;
(d) selecting next-generation progeny plants that heritably carry the trait and exhibit morphological and physiological characteristics of the first inbred corn variety;
(e) repeating steps (c) and (d) three or more times to produce at least a first selected progeny plant that heritably carries the trait and exhibits essentially all of the morphological and physical characteristics of the inbred corn variety; and
(f) crossing a progeny plant of step (e) with a plant of the other inbred corn variety of the group consisting of I180421 and 17INI20 to produce a plant comprising the trait and essentially all of the characteristics of hybrid corn variety CH619141 when grown under the same environmental conditions.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the trait is selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, waxy starch, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising repeating steps (a)-(f) at least once to introduce at least a second trait into hybrid corn variety CH619141, wherein the second trait is selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, waxy starch, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.
19. A plant produced by the method of claim 16.
20. A method of introducing a desired trait into hybrid corn variety CH619141 comprising the steps of:
(a) introducing a transgene conferring the trait into a variety selected from the group consisting of I180421 and 17INI20 to produce a transgenic plant heritably carrying the trait, wherein representative samples of seed of variety I180421 and variety 17INI20 have been deposited under ATCC Accession numbers PTA-7863 and 203923, respectively; and
(b) crossing the transgenic plant or an isogenic progeny plant thereof with a plant of the other inbred corn variety to produce seed of the hybrid corn variety CH619141 that heritably carries and expresses the transgene and otherwise has essentially all of the morphological and physiological characteristics of hybrid corn variety CH619141 when grown under the same environmental conditions.
21. The method of claim 20, wherein the desired trait is selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, waxy starch, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.
22. The method of claim 20, further comprising repeating steps (a) and (b) at least once to introduce at least a second trait into hybrid corn variety CH619141, wherein the second trait is selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, waxy starch, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.
23. A plant produced by the method of claim 20.
24. The plant of claim 23, wherein the plant comprises a trait selected from the group consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, waxy starch, modified fatty acid metabolism, modified phytic acid metabolism, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified protein metabolism.
25. A method of producing a corn plant derived from the hybrid corn variety CH619141, comprising crossing the plant of claim 2 with a second corn plant to produce a progeny corn plant derived from the hybrid corn variety CH619141.
26. The method of claim 25, further defined as comprising producing an inbred corn plant derived from the hybrid corn variety CH619141, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) crossing the progeny corn plant derived from the hybrid corn variety CH619141 with itself or a second plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation;
(b) growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from the seed and crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or a second plant; and
(c) repeating steps (a) and (b) for an additional 3-10 generations with sufficient inbreeding to produce an inbred corn plant derived from the hybrid corn variety CH619141.