Continuous gauging of electric traction contact wire

• Main Author: Timm, Anthony Rex
• Other Authors: Besseling, Johann L N
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2015
• Subjects: Electrical Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12432

Includes bibliographical references. === In this system the electric traction overhead contact wire wear is continuously measured. A GaAs LED and lens combination produces a collimated beam of light along the pantograph pan. The beam, through which the contact wire slides, is monitored by a vertical array of phototransistors spaced at equal intervals. The number of phototransistors in shadow at any instant is proportional to the contact wire thickness. A fibre-optic data link conveys the encoded information from the pan at high tension to the locomotive at ground potential.