Well Bill, you might know if you were there. I’ve been through four FD ops powered by solid state generators, and the issues you list haven't been a measurable factor. That’s not to say these things will never matter, but experience tells me even eight 100-watt rigs going on one such generator hasn't created these problems to a noticeable extent. I suspect you may have forgotten how many other things seem to go out of their way to compromise radio operations.
Incidentally, I routinely operate my 600-watt station off my 3500-watt generator to keep the generator in condition. No issues, but I don't wear headphones either. From: BVARC [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Crowell, N4HPG via BVARC Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 14:02 To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB <[email protected]> Cc: Bill Crowell, N4HPG <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [BVARC] Interesting take on FD generators Hi Scott, I fail to see how my attendance or lack thereof is relevant to an engineering analysis of generator technology. I’ve been the alternate-energy guy for the club back in NC. What I’m discussing is extremely relevant. If you have power that you can’t use, you’re screwed. If the RFI from the generator swamps your radio, you’re screwed. If your radio shuts down the generator’s control circuitry, you’re screwed. As for “big brother” - I would assume that this is not an inverter-generator and thus your point is wanting. The topic at hand was the engineering suitability of INVERTER generators to our uses and my responses and comments were going directly to that point. 73 On Aug 11, 2016, at 1:38 PM, Scott Royall via BVARC <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Ah, Bill, did you participate with BVARC in this year's FD? How many rigs did we hang off the big brother to one of these generators? FD ops are inherently compromised by factors greater than what you're discussing so… From: BVARC [ <mailto:[email protected]> mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Crowell, N4HPG via BVARC Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 12:58 To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> Cc: Bill Crowell, N4HPG < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> Subject: Re: [BVARC] Interesting take on FD generators This was very interesting. My takeaways: 1. The RF noise is still bothersome, even at S1. I’d hate to pipe that into my headphones for 8 hours. 2. The dynamic load is an issue that prevents good fuel economy when running in normal mode. This negates the economy mode. 3. They did NOT test the effects of RF on the control circuitry when we’re transmitting. With that 100’ drop cord, we have to ensure that various RF sources don’t destabilize the CPU in the generator. For our purposes, a properly sized, standard generator would be better for these reasons: 1. Sinewave output from the alternator - the shaft speed is 3600rpm. 2. Toleration of dynamic loads. 3. Immunity from RF from our transmitters. Of course, this comes with more weight and lower fuel economy. *** To deal with the inverter/generator, I would recommend: 1. A ferro-resonant isolation transformer to deal with cleaning up the power and mitigating RFI in both directions. 2. A battery or large capacitor in the 12V leads to the radio for dynamic loading. 3. Something like an Astron PSU - because they’re more rugged. Still a big price to pay for some fuel efficiency. My conclusion is that these units are excellent for static loads like lights and air conditioners and other RV type uses. We need to be very careful when using radios with them. B On Aug 11, 2016, at 3:35 AM, Jon Noxon via BVARC < <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]> wrote: >From the Elecraft reflector: <https://youtu.be/rOH7Ze7wreQ> >https://youtu.be/rOH7Ze7wreQ Enjoy, Jon KF5TFJ _______________________________________________ BVARC mailing list <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org> http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Bill Crowell, N4HPG Pearland, TX <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] I prefer to live a life of galvanic isolation. _______________________________________________ BVARC mailing list <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org> http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org Bill Crowell, N4HPG Pearland, TX <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] I prefer to live a life of galvanic isolation.
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