Sabre

Common base meter with internal latching relay

The new generation Sabre is a compact, single phase, two-wire, keypad-based prepayment electricity meter in a housing compatible with the ESKOM standard common base electricity dispenser socket. This meter is most suited to new reticulation and is directly and easily interchangeable with common base prepayment meters from other approved manufacturers using the common base configuration. User interaction with the meter and access to meter information (such as a low credit warning, energy consumption and load contactor status) are available using the keypad and LCD display.

Principle of Operation

The Sabre meter is based on the ESKOM Specification which calls for a prepayment meter that can be fitted into a standard, plug-in common base. This concept ensures simple installation and replacement procedures. The meter is keypad-based, fully STS compliant and supports the 20-digit STS encryption algorithms.

The meter has a wide range of information registers which can easily be accessed by pressing the information button on the keypad and then entering the number of the register.

More detailed information and programming is achieved via the standard ESKOM VTC interrogation port at the rear of the meter.

Anti-tamper features

Sabre is mechanically sealed against tampering through the use of factory-sealed screw plugs on the rear panels and a utility-sealed wire seal on the front of the meter. The use of these mechanical seals ensures that there are visible signs of tampering if unauthorised entry to the system is attempted.

While the standard Sabre model does not have a mechanical anti-tamper facility fitted, meters with this facility are available on request. The tamper facility automatically detects if the meter is removed from the common base. This condition will set the tamper condition thereby opening the latching relay when the meter is re-fitted to the base.

The meter includes a Significant Reverse Energy (SRE) detection feature. If the line and load wires are swapped during installation, the meter will continue to operate and decrement credit, however, the meter can be factory-programmed to tamper and disconnect the load should SRE be detected.

Plug-in base

The plug-in-base which also conforms to ESKOM's specifications, allows the commissioning of the meter to be separated from the installation of the wiring, thereby adding flexibility and installation convenience.

Included with the base is a Metal Oxide Varistor (MOV) which ensures that the meter complies with SANS IEC 61643-1 for class 3 arrestors. The base is optional and can be supplied separately to the meter