Sharing utility meter pulses

摘要

Two or more interrogators share pulses from a volts-free switch of a utility meter. The voltage free switch may be a relay contact, a bipolar open collector or a FET open drain. The pulses may be shared by passive means such as bridge rectifiers that can include schottky diodes. The interrogators are thereby polarity independent and more interrogators may be added by adding more diode bridges The interrogating devices can be part of an automatic meter reading (AMR) system and the utility meter may be a Smart Meter for electricity, gas or water.