He says that the most important thing in public speaking is your energy and enthusiasm, in other words your delivery, and that this represents 50% of the impact of your speech.

He then says that another 30% of the impact is created by the key message of your talk.

This leaves only 20% for the structure and the writing.

However, it is this last and least impact part of public speaking that most people spend all their time agonizing over, especially someone who feels nervous and lacks confidence.

However, if you know what it is that you are to deliver, then this slight nervousness can be a great source of strength adding to that high impact energy and enthusiasm.

Preparation beforehand is an important part of public speaking but being overly concerned with getting the words exactly ‘right’ leads to looking too much at notes or results in the speech being done in an over-rehearsed way.

What you need is to have something which enables you to focus on your delivery, energy, and enthusiasm.

Clearly, if it’s easy to remember what you want to say, then you will not be chasing the words and will be less nervous, be in control, and have confidence.

Knowing what you’re going to say will leave you free to concentrate on that high impact energy and enthusiasm so the question is; how can I know what to say?

The Learning Well ‘Memory Map’ technique gives you the structure of your speech in a very easy way providing you with the ability to know both your core message and your content when public speaking.

When you are delivering your talk or presentation the Map enables you to very quickly glance down and see what you want to say, the location for each part of your speech is clear on the Map and is therefore clear for when you speak.

The Map locations for what you want to say will become fixed in your mind thereby increasing your confidence and making speeches and presentations so much easier. 

So, it’s clear. The Learning Well Memory Map targets all public speaking impact points as set out by World Speaking Champion Lance Miller:

Tony Buzan’s Mind Mapping is great for brain storming and I have to say that when it comes to public speaking and knowing what I want to say and building confidence then Memory Mapping is the thing to go for.

By using Memory Maps your public speaking confidence will grow and grow.

Image by Ken Lund
Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863. The park, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Delta, Louisiana, also commemorates the greater Vicksburg Campaign, which preceded the battle. Reconstructed forts and trenches evoke memories of the 47-day siege that ended in the surrender of the city. Victory here and at Port Hudson gave the United States control of the Mississippi River.

A little known fact about the Vicksburg National Military Park is that, because it was paid for by the Federal Government, all of the Union Monuments were paid for by the US Government. The Confederate states however, were not Federally funded and their representation in the park is the direct result of years of fund raising and multiple benefits. Though the park is located in the South, the Federal Government did not give equal monetary donations to the Union and Confederacy, thus leaving the South to their own devices as far as money was concerned.

The park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles (32 km) of historic trenches and earthworks, a 16-mile (26 km) tour road, two antebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons, restored gunboat USS Cairo (sunk on December 12, 1862, on the Yazoo River, recovered successfully in 1964), and the Grant’s Canal site, where the Union army attempted to build a canal to let their ships bypass Confederate artillery fire. The Cairo, also known as the "Hardluck Ironclad," was the first U.S. ship in history to be sunk by a torpedo/mine. It was raised in 1964. The Illinois State Memorial has 47 steps, one for every day Vicksburg was besieged.

The remnants of Grant’s Canal, a detached section of the military park, are located across from Vicksburg near Delta, Louisiana. Union Army Major General Ulysses S. Grant ordered the project, started on June 27, 1862, as part of his Vicksburg Campaign, with two goals in mind. The first was to alter the course of the Mississippi River in order to bypass the Confederate guns at Vicksburg. For various technical reasons the project failed to meet this goal. The river did change course by itself on April 26, 1876. The project met its second goal, keeping troops occupied during the laborious maneuvering required to begin the Battle of Vicksburg.

The national military park was established on February 21, 1899, to commemorate the siege and defense of Vicksburg. The park sprawls over 1,800 acres (7.3 km2) of land. The park and cemetery were transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service (NPS) on August 10, 1933. Of the park’s 1,736.47 acres (not including the cemetery), 1,729.63 acres (6.9996 km2) are federally owned.

In the late 1950s, a portion of the park was transferred to the city as a local park in exchange for closing local roads running through the remainder of the park. It also allowed for the construction of Interstate 20. The monuments in land transferred to the city are still maintained by the NPS. As with all historic areas administered by the NPS, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Over a million visitors visit the park every year.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicksburg_National_Military_Park

The Siege of Vicksburg was the final major military action in the Vicksburg Campaign of the American Civil War. In a series of maneuvers, Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of the Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate army of Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines surrounding the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

When two major assaults (May 19 and May 22, 1863) against the Confederate fortifications were repulsed with heavy casualties, Grant decided to besiege the city beginning on May 25. With no re-enforcement, supplies nearly gone, and after holding out for more than forty days, the garrison finally surrendered on July 4. This action (combined with the capitulation of Port Hudson on July 9) yielded command of the Mississippi River to the Union forces, which would hold it for the rest of the conflict.

The Confederate surrender following the siege at Vicksburg is sometimes considered, when combined with Gen. Robert E. Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg the previous day, the turning point of the war. It also cut off communication with Confederate forces in the Trans-Mississippi Department for the remainder of the war. The city of Vicksburg would not celebrate Independence Day for about eighty years as a result of the siege and surrender as well.

After crossing the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg at Bruinsburg and driving northeast, Grant won battles at Port Gibson and Raymond and captured Jackson, the Mississippi state capital, in mid-May 1863, forcing Pemberton to withdraw westward. Attempts to stop the Union advance at Champion Hill and Big Black River Bridge were unsuccessful. Pemberton knew that the corps under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman was preparing to flank him from the north; he had no choice but to withdraw or be outflanked. Pemberton burned the bridges over the Big Black River and took everything edible in his path, both animal and plant, as he retreated to the well-fortified city of Vicksburg.

The Confederates evacuated Hayne’s Bluff, which was occupied by Sherman’s cavalry on May 19, and Union steamboats no longer had to run the guns of Vicksburg, now being able to dock by the dozens up the Yazoo River. Grant could now receive supplies more directly than the previous route, which ran through Louisiana, over the river crossing at Grand Gulf and Bruinsburg, then back up north.

Over three quarters of Pemberton’s army had been lost in the two preceding battles and many in Vicksburg expected General Joseph E. Johnston, in command of the Confederate Department of the West, to relieve the city—which he never did. Large masses of Union troops were on the march to invest the city, repairing the burnt bridges over the Big Black River; which Grant’s forces crossed on May 18. Johnston sent a note to his general, Pemberton, asking him to sacrifice the city and save his troops, something Pemberton would not do. (Pemberton, a Northerner by birth, was probably influenced by his fear of public condemnation if he abandoned Vicksburg).

As the Union forces approached Vicksburg, Pemberton could put only 18,500 troops in his lines. Grant had over 35,000, with more on the way. However, Pemberton had the advantage of terrain and fortifications that made his defense nearly impregnable. The defensive line around Vicksburg ran approximately 6.5 miles, based on terrain of varying elevations that included hills and knobs with steep angles for an attacker to ascend under fire. The perimeter included many gun pits, forts, trenches, redoubts, and lunettes. The major fortifications of the line included Fort Hill, on a high bluff north of the city; the Stockade Redan, dominating the approach to the city on Graveyard Road from the northeast; the 3rd Louisiana Redan; the Great Redoubt; the Railroad Redoubt, protecting the gap for the railroad line entering the city; the Square Fort (Fort Garrott); a salient along the Hall’s Ferry Road; and the South Fort.

Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Union Army of the Tennessee brought three corps to the battle: the XIII Corps, under Maj. Gen. John A. McClernand; the XV Corps, under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman; and the XVII Corps, under Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson.

Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton’s Confederate Army of Mississippi inside the Vicksburg line consisted of four divisions, under Maj. Gens. Carter L. Stevenson, John H. Forney, Martin L. Smith, and John S. Bowen.

Grant wanted to overwhelm the Confederates before they could fully organize their defenses and ordered an immediate assault against Stockade Redan for May 19. Troops from Sherman’s corps had a difficult time approaching the position under rifle and artillery fire from the 36th Mississippi Infantry, Brig. Gen. Louis Hébert’s brigade—they had to negotiate a steep ravine protected by abatis and cross a six-foot deep, eight-foot wide ditch before attacking the 17-foot high walls of the redan. This first attempt was easily repulsed. Grant ordered an artillery bombardment to soften the defenses and at about 2 p.m., Sherman’s division under Maj. Gen. Francis P. Blair tried again, but only a small number of men were able to advance even as far as the ditch below the redan. The assault collapsed in a melee of rifle fire and hand grenades lobbing back and forth.

The failed Federal assaults of May 19 damaged Union morale, deflating the confidence the soldiers felt after their string of victories across Mississippi. They were also costly, with casualties of 157 killed, 777 wounded, and 8 missing, versus Confederate casualties of 8 killed and 62 wounded. The Confederates, assumed to be demoralized, had regained their fighting edge.

Grant planned another assault for May 22, but this time with greater care; they would first reconnoiter thoroughly and soften up the defenses with artillery and naval gunfire. The lead units were supplied with ladders to ascend the fortification walls. Grant did not want a long siege, and this attack was to be by the entire army across a wide front.

Despite their bloody repulse on May 19, Union troops were in high spirits, now well-fed with provisions they had foraged. On seeing Grant pass by, a soldier commented, "Hardtack." Soon all Union troops in the vicinity were yelling, "Hardtack! Hardtack!" The Union served hardtack, beans, and coffee the night of May 21. Everyone expected that Vicksburg would fall the next day.

Union forces bombarded the city all night, from 220 artillery pieces and naval gunfire from Rear Adm. David D. Porter’s fleet in the river, and while causing little property damage, they damaged Confederate civilian morale. On the morning of May 22, the defenders were bombarded again for four hours before the Union attacked once more along a three-mile front at 10 a.m.

Sherman attacked once again down the Graveyard Road, with 150 volunteers (nicknamed the Forlorn Hope detachment) leading the way with ladders and planks, followed by the divisions of Blair and Brig. Gen. James M. Tuttle, arranged in a long column of regiments, hoping to achieve a breakthrough by concentrating their mass on a narrow front. They were driven back in the face of heavy rifle fire. Blair’s brigades under Cols. Giles A. Smith and T. Kilby Smith made it as far as a ridge 100 yards from Green’s Redan, the southern edge of the Stockade Redan, from where they poured heavy fire into the Confederate position, but to no avail. Tuttle’s division, waiting its turn to advance, did not have an opportunity to move forward. On Sherman’s far right, the division of Brig. Gen. Frederick Steele spent the morning attempting to get into position through a ravine of the Mint Spring Bayou.

McPherson’s corps was assigned to attack the center along the Jackson Road. On their right flank, the brigade of Brig. Gen. Thomas E. G. Ransom advanced to within 100 yards of the Confederate line, but halted to avoid dangerous flanking fire from Green’s Redan. On McPherson’s left flank, the division of Maj. Gen. John A. Logan was assigned to assault the 3rd Louisiana Redan and the Great Redoubt. The brigade of Brig. Gen. John E. Smith made it as far as the slope of the redan, but huddled there, dodging grenades until dark before they were recalled. Brig. Gen. John D. Stevenson’s brigade advanced well in two columns against the redoubt, but their attack also failed when they found their ladders were too short to scale the fortification. Brig. Gen. Isaac F. Quinby’s division advanced a few hundred yards, but halted for hours while its generals engaged in confused discussions.

On the Union left, McClernand’s corps moved along the Baldwin Ferry Road and astride the Southern Railroad of Mississippi. The division of Brig. Gen. Eugene A. Carr was assigned to capture the Railroad Redoubt and the 2nd Texas Lunette; the division of Brig. Gen. Peter J. Osterhaus was assigned the Square Fort. Carr’s men achieved a small breakthrough at the 2nd Texas Lunette and requested reinforcements.

By 11 a.m., it was clear that a breakthrough was not forthcoming and the advances by Sherman and McPherson were failures. Just then, Grant received a message from McClernand, which stated that he was heavily engaged, the Confederates were being reinforced, and he requested a diversion on his right from McPherson’s corps. Grant initially refused the request, telling McClernand to use his own reserve forces for assistance; Grant was mistakenly under the impression that McClernand had been lightly engaged and McPherson heavily, although the reverse was true. McClernand followed up with a message that was partially misleading, implying that he had captured two forts—"The Stars and Stripes are flying over them."—and that another push along the line would achieve victory for the Union Army. Although Grant once again demurred, he showed the dispatch to Sherman, who ordered his own corps to advance again. Grant, reconsidering, then ordered McPherson to send Quinby’s division to aid McClernand.

Sherman ordered two more assaults. At 2:15 p.m., Giles Smith and Ransom moved out and were repulsed immediately. At 3 p.m., Tuttle’s division suffered so many casualties in their aborted advance that Sherman told Tuttle, "This is murder; order those troops back." By this time, Steele’s division had finally maneuvered into position on Sherman’s right, and at 4 p.m., Steele gave the order to charge against the 26th Louisiana Redoubt. They had no more success than any of Sherman’s other assaults.

In McPherson’s sector, Logan’s division made another thrust down the Jackson Road at about 2 p.m., but met with heavy losses and the attack was called off. McClernand attacked again, reinforced by Quinby’s division, but with no success. Union casualties were 502 killed, 2,550 wounded, and 147 missing, about evenly divided across the three corps. Confederate casualties were not reported directly, but are estimated to be under 500. Grant blamed McClernand’s misleading dispatches for part of the poor results of the day, storing up another grievance against the political general who had caused him so many aggravations during the campaign.

Historian Shelby Foote wrote that Grant "did not regret having made the assaults; he only regretted that they had failed."[21] Grant reluctantly settled into a siege. On May 25, Lt. Col. John A. Rawlins issued Special Orders No. 140 for Grant: "Corps Commanders will immediately commence the work of reducing the enemy by regular approaches. It is desirable that no more loss of life shall be sustained in the reduction of Vicksburg, and the capture of the Garrison. Every advantage will be taken of the natural inequalities of the ground to gain positions from which to start mines, trenches, or advance batteries. …" Grant wrote in his memoirs, "I now determined upon a regular siege—to ‘out-camp the enemy,’ as it were, and to incur no more losses."

Federal troops began to dig in, constructing elaborate entrenchments (the soldiers of the time referred to them as "ditches") that surrounded the city and moved closer and closer to the Confederate fortifications. With their backs against the Mississippi and Union gunboats firing from the river, Confederate soldiers and citizens alike were trapped. Pemberton was determined to hold his few miles of the Mississippi as long as possible, hoping for relief from Johnston or elsewhere.

A new problem confronted the Confederates. The dead and wounded of Grant’s army lay in the heat of Mississippi summer, the odor of the deceased men and horses fouling the air, the wounded crying for medical help and water. Grant first refused a request of truce, thinking it a show of weakness. Finally he relented, and the Confederates held their fire while the Union recovered the wounded and dead, soldiers from both sides mingling and trading as if no hostilities existed for the moment.

Subsequent to this truce, Grant’s army began to fill the 12 mile ring around Vicksburg. In short time it became clear that even 50,000 Union soldiers would not be able to effect a complete encirclement of the Confederate defenses. Pemberton’s outlook on escape was pessimistic, but there were still roads leading south out of Vicksburg unguarded by Federal troops. Grant found help from Maj. Gen. Henry W. Halleck, the Union general-in-chief. Halleck quickly began to shift Union troops in the West to meet Grant’s needs. The first of these reinforcements to arrive along the siege lines was a 5,000 man division from the Department of the Missouri under Maj. Gen. Francis J. Herron on June 11. Herron’s troops, remnants of the Army of the Frontier, were attached to McPherson’s corps and took up position on the far south. Next came a three division detachment from the XVI Corps led by Brig. Gen. Cadwallader C. Washburn on June 12, assembled from troops at nearby posts of Corinth, Memphis, and LaGrange. The final significant group of reinforcements to join was the 8,000 man strong IX Corps from the Department of the Ohio, led by Maj. Gen. John G. Parke, arriving on June 14. With the arrival of Parke, Grant had 77,000 men around Vicksburg.

In an effort to cut Grant’s supply line, Confederates in Louisiana under Maj. Gen. John G. Walker attacked Milliken’s Bend up the Mississippi on June 7. This was mainly defended by untrained colored troops, who fought bravely with inferior weaponry and finally fought off the rebels with help from gunboats, although at horrible cost; the defenders lost 652 to the Confederate 185. The loss at Milliken’s Bend left the Confederates with no hope for relief but from the cautious Johnston.

Pemberton was boxed in with lots of inedible munitions and little food. The poor diet was showing on the Confederate soldiers. By the end of June, half were out sick or hospitalized. Scurvy, malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, and other diseases cut their ranks. At least one city resident had to stay up at night to keep starving soldiers out of his vegetable garden. The constant shelling did not bother him as much as the loss of his food. As the siege wore on, fewer and fewer horses, mules, and dogs were seen wandering about Vicksburg. Shoe leather became a last resort of sustenance for many adults.

During the siege, Union gunboats lobbed over 22,000 shells into the town and army artillery fire was even heavier. As the barrages continued, suitable housing in Vicksburg was reduced to a minimum. A ridge, located between the main town and the rebel defense line, provided a diverse citizenry with lodging for the duration. Over 500 caves were dug into the yellow clay hills of Vicksburg. Whether houses were structurally sound or not, it was deemed safer to occupy these dugouts. People did their best to make them comfortable, with rugs, furniture, and pictures. They tried to time their movements and foraging with the rhythm of the cannonade, sometimes unsuccessfully. Because of these dugouts or caves, the Union soldiers gave the town the nickname of "Prairie Dog Village." Despite the ferocity of the Union fire against the town, fewer than a dozen civilians were known to have been killed during the entire siege.

One of Grant’s actions during the siege was to settle a lingering rivalry. On May 30, General McClernand wrote a self-adulatory note to his troops, claiming much of the credit for the soon-to-be victory. Grant had been waiting six months for him to slip, ever since they clashed early in the campaign, around the Battle of Arkansas Post. He had received permission to relieve McClernand in January 1863 but waited for a unequivocal provocation. Grant finally relieved McClernand on June 18. He so diligently prepared his action that McClernand was left without recourse. McClernand’s XIII Corps was turned over to Maj. Gen. Edward Ord, recovered from a wound sustained at Hatchie’s Bridge. In May 1864, McClernand was restored to a command in remote Texas.

Another command change occurred on June 22. In addition to Pemberton at his front, Grant had to be concerned with Confederate forces in his rear under the command of Joseph E. Johnston. He stationed one division in the vicinity of the Big Black River bridge and another reconnoitered as far north as Mechanicsburg, both to act as a covering force. By June 10, the IX Corps, under Maj. Gen. John G. Parke, was transferred to Grant’s command. This corps became the nucleus of a special task force whose mission was to prevent Johnston, gathering his forces at Canton, from interfering with the siege. Sherman was given command of this task force and Brig. Gen. Frederick Steele replaced him at the XV Corps. Johnston eventually began moving to relieve Pemberton and reached the Big Black River on July 1, but he delayed a potentially difficult encounter with Sherman until it was too late for the Vicksburg garrison, and then fell back to Jackson.

Late in the siege, Union troops tunneled under the 3rd Louisiana Redan and packed the mine with 2,200 pounds of gunpowder. The explosion blew apart the Confederate lines on June 25, while an infantry attack made by troops from Logan’s XVII Corps division, followed the blast. The 45th Illinois Regiment (known as the "Lead Mine Regiment"), under Col. Jasper A. Maltby, charged into the 40-foot (12 m) diameter, 12-foot (3.7 m) deep crater with ease, but were stopped by recovering Confederate infantry. The Union soldiers became pinned down while the defenders also rolled artillery shells with short fuses into the pit with deadly results. Union engineers worked to set up a casemate in the crater in order to extricate the infantry, and soon the soldiers fell back to a new defensive line. From the crater left by the explosion on June 25, Union miners worked to dig a new mine to the south. On July 1, this mine was detonated but no infantry attack followed. Pioneers worked throughout July 2 and July 3 to widen the initial crater large enough for an infantry column of four to pass through for future anticipated assaults. However, events the following day negated the need for any further assaults.

On July 3, Pemberton sent a note to Grant, who, as at Fort Donelson, first demanded unconditional surrender. But Grant reconsidered, not wanting to feed 30,000 hungry Confederates in Union prison camps, and offered to parole all prisoners. Considering their destitute state, dejected and starving, he never expected them to fight again; he hoped they would carry home the stigma of defeat to the rest of the Confederacy. In any event, it would have occupied his army and taken months to ship that many troops north.[34]

Surrender was formalized by an old oak tree, "made historical by the event." In his Personal Memoirs, Grant described the fate of this luckless tree:

It was but a short time before the last vestige of its body, root and limb had disappeared, the fragments taken as trophies. Since then the same tree has furnished as many cords of wood, in the shape of trophies, as the ‘True Cross’.

The surrender was finalized on July 4, Independence Day, a day Pemberton had hoped would bring more sympathetic terms from the United States. Although the Vicksburg Campaign continued with some minor actions, the fortress city had fallen and, with the surrender of Port Hudson on July 9, the Mississippi River was firmly in Union hands and the Confederacy split in two. President Lincoln famously announced, "The Father of Waters again goes unvexed to the sea."

Union casualties for the battle and siege of Vicksburg were 4,835; Confederate were 32,697 (29,495 surrendered). The full campaign, since March 29, claimed 10,142 Union and 9,091 Confederate killed and wounded. In addition to his surrendered men, Pemberton turned over to Grant 172 cannons and 50,000 rifles.

Tradition holds that the Fourth of July holiday was not celebrated by Vicksburg until World War II, because of the surrender of the city on July 4.

The works around Vicksburg are now maintained by the National Park Service as part of Vicksburg National Military Park.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Vicksburg

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.

This is important because it offers peace of mind and negates the need for ‘warden-type’ manual inspection of power protection equipment. However, monitoring for alarm conditions is required. The beauty of today’s UPS equipment is that it can now be carried out at one location, either centrally in-house or off-site at a specialist UPS monitoring provider. Many leading power protection manufacturers, such as Riello UPS, provide this type of service. It often means an engineer can be on-site and have equipment repaired, checked and running before the client is even aware of a problem.

The decision not to outsource uninterruptible power supply monitoring must be reinforced by the provision of dedicated monitoring personnel in-house whose responsibility it is to monitor and respond to UPS alarms. Failure to act in a timely and appropriate manner will significantly reduce system resilience. Typical examples include failure to notice that a UPS is operating in bypass mode or that there is a failed battery in a battery string (note: a UPS battery string is only as strong as its weakest battery).

The advent of Html capability in the software arena has enabled modern UPS manufacturers to integrate sophisticated onsite and remote monitoring capability within their hardware. In fact, modern systems enable remote 24/7 monitoring (either by the client or at the manufacturer’s facility) of all critical UPS, generator, air-conditioning and fire suppression equipment. As well as alerting system managers to problems as they arise, integration of monitoring functions into existing infrastructures gives businesses valuable early warning of impending power and other equipment failures that actively increases profitable uptime.

Most UPS are available with software packages that monitor mains voltage, UPS load and battery charge as standard, as well as proprietary monitoring and control software, which allows remote interrogation of UPS logs and operating parameters to help diagnose alarms and faults. When instructed to do so, UPS software can remotely perform automated and controlled shutdown of valuable equipment – ensuring hardware protection while freeing personnel for other tasks during power continuity incidents.

Types of alarms include:

Audible Alarms: audible signals are generated from within the UPS or a connected remote status panel and may be coded, using varying lengths of sound, to indicate specific alarm conditions. Audible alarm signals will remain ‘on’ until the condition is rectified or the alarm is acknowledged and silenced.

Visual Alarms: light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) provide a basic form of visual alarm notification. They may be single or multi-coloured and indicate the status of the UPS by employing one of three modes: on, flashing or off.

Some UPS utilise Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) with push-button controls to provide a slightly higher level of visual alarm capability. In this case, the user can scroll through a menu of information (measurements and logs).

The most sophisticated level of visual display is a full front-panel graphic-type, which typically consists of multi-character back-lit lines that display information in alpha, numeric and symbolic formats, either as text, alarm codes, graphics or a combination thereof.

Remote communication can utilise one of several protocols to provide data-exchange between an application and its UPS: serial connection (including RS-232), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), MODBUS/JBUS or Profibus.

A range of UPS monitoring packages are available from UPS suppliers – from simple installation software designed to run on laptops, PCs and PDAs to more sophisticated monitoring and control software that runs on an enterprise server (whether Microsoft Windows, UNIX, Mac, HP and many others) and provides a host of information from UPS operating conditions to WAP availability.

There are two common approaches to monitoring and control by uninterruptible power supply manufacturers: centralised and decentralised. Centralised is where a specified server is used to control the orderly shutdown of the mixed platform network. Decentralised is where each individual server or PC runs its own copy of the monitoring software and controls its own shutdown procedure. The centralised approach is the most straightforward and least expensive to install but it can introduce a single-point-of-failure into the system. Should the control server hang and fail to shutdown the rest of the routine will be disrupted leading to potential data loss and a system-wide crash. With the decentralised approach, if one server or PC fails to shut down, the problem is isolated, thus achieving a higher level of system resilience.

The human instinct upon hearing or seeing an alarm is often to ignore it but planning how to monitor uninterruptible power supplies and associated alarm signals, and conceptualising appropriate responses, is an important aspect of a power continuity plan. If you want to go into it in more detail, there is a whole chapter devoted to it in The Power Protection Guide.

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.

Compact
DIN control panel power supplies are lightweight and efficient, enabling you to have your control panel power supplies mounted above ground height with very little loss of workspace. This also offers them a higher degree of protection from damage by impact or potential flooding than more traditional, floor mounted linear supplies. Because they are more compact, more units can be mounted on the same tracking, which comes in standard sizes allowing you to interchange units easily.

Efficient
Control panel power supplies are also known as switching power supplies. They convert a DC voltage into a lower, regulated voltage by storing the difference in a magnetic field. This makes them much more efficient, with over 80% efficiency compared to only 50% efficiency from linear power supplies. They also incorporate modern developments in power supply technology, including power factor correction, which limits the harmonic current on the input side of the power supply. This ‘cleans’ up the input current, reducing the peak current demand. As a result, control panel power supplies are much more efficient, saving you money in electricity bills, which for medium size businesses can constitute a considerable annual saving.

Legislation
All power supply units are covered by extensive safety legislation and the most modern control panel power supplies are now the safest on the market. By incorporating overvoltage protection, undervoltage protection and strict current leakage technology into units, they also protect equipment that draws its power supply from the unit by preventing power surges reaching the delicate workings of computers or CNC machinery, for example. The legislation imposed also ensures the safety of the end user in any environment and is an important factor to consider when making initial inquiries about installation.

Application
Control panel power supplies can be used in almost any business environment. They are particularly useful in workshop environments, where multiple machines may have to run off the same circuit but with each machine having its own particular needs and demands. They also work well in office environments, where computer networks can all be run from the same circuit, improving efficiency and reducing running costs. Control panel power supplies are best suited to small or medium sized business environments and are cheap enough to be considered even by start-up companies. Although buying a second-hand system from a web auction site may seem like a good idea and an easy way to save a few pounds, consider that with a second-hand unit you will receive no manufacturer’s guarantee or after-care service from the installation company. There is also the chance that it may not conform to current health and safety legislation.

The next step
If you think that a control panel power supply would be right for your business, you need to calculate your input voltage and frequency, the output voltage, the wattage or power in amperes and the peak loading of the output. Once you have these figures, you can then calculate the power of the DC power supply you will need. Think about how much space you have to mount the system and whether a compact unit will have the capability to cope with the number of outputs needed. Talk to a technical expert who has experience in installing control panel power supplies in commercial environments to help you make an informed choice and select the right power supply system for your business.

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.

Switching power supplies convert a DC voltage into a lower regulated voltage by storing the difference in a magnetic field. Because this removes the need for large coils within the system by incorporating smaller electronic methods of conversion, the size of the control panel power supply is reduced and more energy efficient. Switching power supplies are typically over 80% efficient, compared to 50% efficiency from linear power supplies. They are also light enough to be mounted on a DIN rail, which only the smallest linear supplies are capable of doing.

With modern development in power supply technology, switching power supply units often incorporate more advanced features as standard. Power factor correction (PFC) limits the harmonic current on the input side of the power supply, ‘cleaning’ up the input current which reduces the peak current demand. Overload protection protects the power supply from any damage caused by an abnormal rise in output current, and in turn protects any equipment that may be feeding off the power supply.

Overvoltage protection (OVP) prevents load circuit damage by cutting the power supply output when output voltage rises above 120% of the rated value. If the power supply feedback loop fails, for example, the output voltages could rise to levels that may cause major damage to the entire system. OVP detects this high voltage, shorts the output and causes the supply to shut down, preventing a surge that could be catastrophic.

Undervoltage detection indicates if the output voltage drops below a certain level.

When you’re planning to replace your control panel power supplies, there are a few things you need to consider. Firstly, what applications is the power supply intended for? You will need to know your input voltage and frequency, the output voltage, the wattage or power in amperes and the peak loading of the output. You will then need to calculate the power of the DC power supply you need. If more than one output is required, you will need to carry out a quick calculation to determine the total wattage for the supply by multiplying the voltage by the amperage of each output to calculate the individual wattage and then adding these together to give you your total wattage requirement.
You will also need to check the enclosure style, connections and physical size of the control panel power supply to make sure that it is suitable. A unit that is too large may not be suitable for some DIN rail fittings whereas a compact unit may not have the capability to cope with the number of outputs needed.

Although buying a second-hand unit on a web auction site may seem like a good way to save a few pounds, your control panel power supplies must conform to all safety legislation. Buying from a reputable dealer who offers a selection of approved and certificated units is the only safe and proper option when it comes to buying control panel power supplies.

Finally, consider the application that you wish to apply the control panel power supply to. This can include the power supply life, custom power ratings or mixed voltages. A good power supply will need to be able to cope with every requirement you have without having to work at maximum capacity for prolonged periods of time, which can shorten its lifespan. Talking to a technical expert who has experience in fitting control panel power supplies into commercial environments will give you more information and help you make an informed choice when it comes to selecting your power supply requirements.

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.

On receiving the ERDY, the host resumes communications with the endpoint. An IN endpoint is in the flow control condition after responding to an ACK Transaction Packet with either of the following A NRDY Transaction Packet. A Data Packet with the End of Burst (EOB) field set to 1, indicating that the packet is the last in a burst. The device sets EOB if the data payload is equal to the endpoint’s maximum packet size and the endpoint is returning fewer than the number of packets requested in the previous ACK Transaction Packet.

An OUT endpoint is in the flow control condition on responding to a Data Packet with either of the following A NRDY Transaction Packet. An ACK Transaction Packet with the NumP field set to zero, indicating that the endpoint can’t accept any Data Packets. Hosts retain the option to attempt communications with bulk endpoints in the flow-control condition before receiving ERDY.

©2012 Parkzone Corsair. All Rights Reserved.