Nonlinear transmission lines keep developer on the fence

摘要

In 1982, I was developing a phone and telemetry system to operate on New Zealand farmers' electrified fences. The controller that generated the jolt was usually a mains-powered pulse generator, and better units produced mostly unipolar pulses of up to 5 kV for a duration of about 20 msec, repeated about once a second-not lethal, but enough to kill any notion of touching the fence again. The high voltages were even effective on unshorn, woolly sheep.