Blair Thompson writes in a message to Scott Huffman
 BT> I hate to be the troublemaker sitting in the back of the room, 
 BT> but in theory shouldn't a DC transmission line operating at 
 BT> the same voltage as an AC line have the same efficiency? Yeah, 
 BT> yeah, I know that plugging my 117vac TV set into a 250,000vac 
 BT> line would be nothing but trouble. But I'm talking about theory
The DC transmission line might even be more efficient - but you have the 
"step down to useful levels" problem.  And that's a *BIG* problem!
  
To use a DC long distance transmission line, you would end up converting it 
to 60 Hz AC with a motor-generator set.  The DC would run the motor, the 
generator would put out AC.  This would only be practical for a very long 
transmission line because of the cost to convert the power to AC.
  
Let's get back to scanning, OK?
 
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