On 11/14/2010 6:37 AM, TexasRF@aol.com wrote:
> Hi Roger, to me, hefty means it can be picked up by hand but elicits a
> "grunt" in the process.
Everything is relative. As we get older the scale seems to move and I'm
not referring to my weight, although that is applicable.
My Emtron DX-2sp "desktop amp" weighs about 100#. IIRC the transformer
is about 40-45#. Even at my age I can easily handle both, but not at the
same time.
It's not that I forget, but rather I often ignore something called age.
I look at a tower section, transformer, or big extension ladder and
think "I should get help on this one" and then "but it's not all that
heavy", go ahead and pick it up and carry it across the shop, or out
into the woods and then spend the next day laying on the heating pad.
I just came in from spending 20 minutes on the back end of a chain saw.
I didn't get nearly as much done as I had intended, but had reached my
limit, or rather my back's limit.
> Ameritron's largest transformer is used in the AL82/1200/1500
> amplifiers. My AL1500 6m amplifier has a self contained Dahl
> Hypersil transformer that weighs about 30 pounds or so. It will
> run the 8877 all day long at 1500w out on cw with no problem.
> The complete amplifier weighs close to 80 pounds and is just about the
> limit for what I can handle unassisted. Other homebrew amplifiers for
> VHF weigh even more and need repackaging to have the power supply in a
> separate cabinet
> Beyond this, transformers will move into the ultra hefty category,
> requiring a really firm grip and a more emphatic "gruuuunt" and
> mumblings about a bear's backside anatomy. This is my personal limit
> as there is no room for an engine hoist in my shack!
Innovation...a little time with a cutting torch or plasma torch and
welder and you can make an overhead hoist so you can pick things up and
move them around the shack. (A track and trolley down each side of the
room just under the ceiling and a cross beam with trolley between the
two trolleys along the walls) A small plasma torch is really useful.
It'll cut virtually anything and do it neatly. Even the small, portable,
self contained so called "hobbyist" cutter will cut from 1/4" cast iron
(try that with a cutting torch<g>), Aluminum, and steel down to painted
"barn metal" and it can do the barn metal without burning the
paint...(with a bit of practice). Mig welders are great but not worth a
darn outside with a bit of a breeze. A tig welder will let you even weld
that thin barn metal...(with a bit of practice)
The problem is the cost of the raw materials is now several times what
it was just a couple of years back Copper? Copper was starting to look
realistic after that huge jump a while back. Last week it took a 50% jump.
My shop is 28 X 40 and I keep swearing I'm going to build an overhead
hoist as there is so much *stuff* in there the only way to move things
around is to pick them up and move them over everything else. Another
problem with the 28 X 40' shop is how much material it takes to build a
hoist that will cover the entire room. It also has to clear the 11
fluorescent fixtures suspended from the ceiling, and both garage doors.
The one on the West end of the South side is 8' and the one centered on
the East end is a 16 footer.
As my wife (N8JBW) says, I suffer from TMS, or "Too Much...er....Stuff".
You can pick an alternative definition.
A lot of those projects out there are for her.<:-))
73
Roger (K8RI)
> Considering that some tubes we use have handles, maybe we need
> transformers with handles (and wheels) as well!
> 73,
> Gerald K5GW
> In a message dated 11/14/2010 1:51:00 A.M. Central Standard Time,
> sub1@rogerhalstead.com writes:
>
> On 11/13/2010 12:31 PM, TexasRF@aol.com wrote:
> > And usually at better prices as well. Check the price of a hefty
> plate
> > transformer for example.
> >
> >
> I dindn't know they had anything big enough to be called hefty. <:-))
> But they are a good source for parts.
>
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