[aprssig] Quieting Honda Generator (was) Portable Ops from 12vvia 115 VAC

[Chris Rose]

Running the 12V out to a battery like is suggested
would probably do the trick for those who have that
option.

If not, how about setting up a battery or bank of
batts to provide the isolation needed by running the
120V out from the generator to a battery charger then
to the battery(ies) to run the radios?  Our club has
done this at Field Day with success.  When running
that way it also provides a power supply for 30 amps
for those who can't spend money for same but can get a
charger and a battery for the 24 hours.  

Chris 
KB8UIH

--- Ray McKnight <shortsheep at worldnet.att.net> wrote:

> I've been doing a lot of generator research myself.
> Something interesting you might not be aware of, is
> That almost all of these smaller generators do not
> Operate in the traditional manner, producing 120vAC
> Directly by turning a generating coil.  The
> generators
> You are talking about actually produce 12vDC, then
> feed
> This to a DC-AC inverter to get 120vAC.  So the
> noise
> You are experiencing on the AC output is most likely
> due
> To the inverter, and I would suspect most of these
> inverters
> Are not true sine-wave inverters (the Honda
> 2000-watt seems
> To be though because it is marketed for use with
> "sensitive
> Electronic equipment").  I would suspect that many
> produce
> A modified square wave, and are therefore very
> likely to
> Cause problems with some types of equipment
> (especially
> Things requiring a good sine wave for timing
> purposes, and
> Some laptop power supplies don't seem to like it
> much either).
> If your generator has a 12vDC outlet (and isn't
> electric start!)
> It probably falls into this category.
> 
> For my money, I never operate any electronics
> directly off
> Generator power, I always have a UPS to protect it. 
> One way
> You might eliminate your "noise" is by trying a good
> UPS with
> Isolation or preferably even an "inline" UPS like
> used on 
> Computer servers which always supply AC from the
> UPS's inverter
> (which is a high-quality sine wave output).  But be
> aware that
> most small, consumer-grade UPS's offer no line
> isolation or filtering.
> 
> If you've got a scope, take a look at the power
> produced by the generator
> and you'll probably be surprised.  If you actually
> need or can easily use
> 12vDC, maybe you can just pull that off your Honda
> and eliminate its
> inverter problems altogether.  Just a thought.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org
> [mailto:aprssig-bounces at lists.tapr.org]
> On Behalf Of J. Gary Bender, WS5N
> Sent: Friday, December 31, 2004 17:06
> To: TAPR APRS Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [aprssig] Quieting Honda Generator
> (was) Portable Ops from
> 12vvia 115 VAC
> 
> For those following this sub-thread, I got a direct
> reply from Jim, W6RMK, 
> pointing me to:
>
http://www.dellroy.com/W4EF's-Ham-Radio-Page/Portable_Operation/EU2000i_
> Filter.htm
> 
> The article describes a common mode filter for the
> AC output that did 
> the trick with the 2 KW Honda generator.  Looks like
> the same problem I 
> am having with the EU1000.  The noise seems to be on
> the AC line but not 
> radiating from the generator.  I.e., unplug the AC
> cord and the noise 
> goes away.
> 
> I will also try using the generator's 12 VDC output
> directly to the 
> battery when I am hamming rather than plugging the
> camper into the 120 
> VAC output.