Ramon Tristani <[email protected]> writes: > I want to take my K3 out for portable use and also training for > emergencies with my local ham friends here. I am thinking of buying > the Predator Inverter Generator that Harbor Freight sells. Does > anybody out there has had any experience with it while using it to > power a radio? Comments appreciated.
When I saw the subject, I was going to say that at Field Day this year, I observed a K3/P3 with external monitor and computer, running off a Honda EU2000 powering the monitor/computer and I think an Astron RS35, plus a west mountain radio PG40S with a 35 Ah AGM battery in a box. This worked very well; not only did the generator run well for the entire FD period but the battery/PG40S let the K3/P3 operate over 1 unplanned and a half-dozen planned shutdowns for refueling. I am skeptical of generators from Harbor Freight, but that is perhaps unwarranted. My club used 3 different EU2000s (for 2 K3 stations and a non-Elecraft station :-(), and had a good experience with them this year as in past years. They do cost $900 to $1000 though -- but if I had a K3, even a barebones one, I would really try hard to get a quality generator for it rather than risking iffy power. The Honda EU2000 is a real motor with separate oil, rather than running on 2-cycle mix, but I see the one you pointed to is also. The Honda is also pretty quiet as these things go and clearly very nicely built. I am 99% sure the Honda is also legal in California, which the Harbor Freight one seems not to be. QST had a review article several years ago about these sorts of generators. 73 de n1dam ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
