(Continuous) Uninterrupted Power Source

Hi everyone!

Can anyone kindly recommend one suitable for outlets in Italy? I’m most interested in a continuous system, as mentioned in the below article.

For Context: Power outages are common in certain regions of Europe, including Italy. As the below article indicates, power outages occurring at a critical moment can sink traders. I’m still paper trading, and have experienced this firsthand where my router/modem connection cut off because my power went out! For this reason, I want to connect a UPS to the modem/router. I’m very glad that it happened, so that I can now take steps to address the issue before wading into live trading.

Many thanks in advance for your guidance!

1 Like

Hi, do you trade manually from home? Regards Greg

1 Like

I do! I should say that while programmatic trading is interesting to me, I’d like to take baby steps… and I honestly enjoy the firsthand analysis anyway : )

I use Tradingview, and have come to love it in the nearly 3 years I’ve been studying and paper trading.

Did you consider use a laptop?

I do use a laptop. But when the power goes out, the internet connection goes out. I want to hook the UPS up to the modem/router, not the computer. I’ll revise the post to clarify : )

you can buy router which is charging from usb

1 Like

Hi and welcome to Babypips. I am by no means an expert, but I have lived in the Philippines where brownouts were common in summer (decades ago) but more of a challenge was Syria, where outages could be up to 6 hours per day (20 years ago). Now you are lucky if you get 4 hours ON per day in the city, and an hour a day in the sticks.

Before you believe my answer at face value please always check with an Italian supplier or engineer to validate my calculations and statements.

First advice. Buy a UPS made in Italy, and preferably from a local dealer who can offer break/fix support. Alternatively a global brand like APC. Locals know best. The line voltage to domestic supplies in Italy is 220-230V EU standard and outlets should be two pin round + external earth - a Schuko socket. If the property is old, that may not be the case. Use a Schulo adapter in that case. Depending on where you are living you may also wish to buy a surge protected UPS or an extension lead with in-built surge protection if lightning is a common occurrence or building ground rod is not good.

Second, find out how much power your UPS consumes. You could do this yourself by plugging an inline watt meter and measuring the power consumption over a few days.

Third, figure out the frequency of power outages (or power dips that cause your electronic equipment to reset) and how long the outages last. A good retailer of electronic goods should be able to tell you.

Fourth, work out how many hours you really need to stay online before losing connection. You may also try to find out how long the local telephone exchange (or street side box) has power autonomy designed for. This used to be 12 to 24 hours for a local exchange but has fast reduced in recent times. It may only be 2 to 4 hours anyway which means even if your router is protected, the local exchange or streetside cabinet may not be.

Fifth, figure out what duration of autonomy you want to design for, and remember in the worst case you can always either trust your stop loss or close all trades out.

Your broadband router may typically consume 70W. If you want the router to be powered for four hours, that is 70W x 4 hours = 280WattHours or 0.28kWh. UPS units are rated in kVA (kilovoltamperes) not kW. A safe conversion factor for kW to kVA is to divide the kWh consumed by 0.7 (or multiply the kW load by 1/0.7 = 1.4. So if you are consuming 240Wh in 4 hours that is 240 x 1.4 kVA = 336kVA. A 500kVA UPS should be more than adequate to power your router for 4 hours autonomy. Your laptop batteries should last from 4 to 8 hours depending on model. A desktop machine would need powering from the UPS, so best to use a laptop.

Finally you can subscribe to always on services that are accessed via a browser. Check out the cost of such services, it may be cheaper than gearing up to cope with power cuts for long periods of autonomy.

4 Likes

Thanks! Very important protection.

I never thought of that!!

1 Like

@Mondeoman

Words can’t express how grateful I am for your kindness and generosity in taking the time to share your expertise and views. This is a veritable gold mine. I’ve embarked on the path to examine all the issues and options you kindly laid out. To the extent I’m become successful at the fun and fascinating world of forex, credit will be due to you and other mentors like you I’ve been privileged and pleased to meet. Many, many thanks!!!

1 Like

Cool, also for starting trading, observing your trade live would be much safer.

1 Like

if you are concerned about your trades, why not using phone app to manage your trades in such situations?

2 Likes

Hi there! It’s a good and logical suggestion, but in my experience the phone trades don’t cut it.

I use Tradingview, and the mobile app for the platform fails to exit the position a good percentage of the time, even after a couple attempts. And when it does work, there’s often a nasty and costly pause.

Entering a position, with or without the Long or Short tool, is always a hassle with “thumbs.”

I’ll go to the phone if if I have to, and to be sure, I must look into streamlining these hiccups because I’m sure I’ll sooner or later be caught in a position where it’s the phone or a financial donkey kick to the chin : )

But I’d like to safeguard my home laptop system in any case : )

Many thanks for chiming in!

Many thanks for the kind suggestion! I never heard of such a thing… super intriguing and logical! Researching this now : )

1 Like

Try setting a SL at a valid price instead of closing your positions at once. This can help close at any price that you want.

2 Likes

I always use a stop loss… but sometimes I need to bail out earlier. I can slide the stop loss on the mobile app, but it’s regrettably not very precise for exits. Good thought though; thanks for the suggestion!

In this case, you can use an EA, a robot, will be move your SL

2 Likes

This means that your SL was not set at the right place! because if a standard SL is not touched yet, it means the trade is still potential to go through your predicted direction, yet if you are talking about trailing stop, that is correct, you can reduce your risk using that.

Yes; trailing stops are sometimes required.

Would love to learn more about this; do you have a reliable resource to share for those who want to learn more? Many thanks in advance!!

ask user @Phonix “he knows more than me”, so he should help you

1 Like