On Sat, 5 Oct 2002, Mike Miller wrote:

> Uhh, I think it's the other way around.  DC is more efficient for long
> distance, high voltage.  I believe that's why the Pacific Intertie is DC and
> USSR set up DC nets.

DC is more efficient because AC lines radiate an electromagnetic field,
just like an antenna does.  It takes power to create that field.  The
problem with DC is it can't be stepped up to high voltages or down to
lower voltages with transformers like AC can, so for DC transmission lines
the power has to be converted from AC to DC for transmission and then back
to AC again at the other end.  The conversion process is inefficient, so
it doesn't pay off except for very long lines.

             _ _
  __ _ _   _| | |  | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE)              Ypsilanti, MI
 / _` | | | | | |  +-----------------------------------------------------
| (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org
 \__, |\__,_|_|_| "There is something ironic when the developers name
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