John,
We have been running a 2800w Onan Camper/RV generator. With the
installation kit it can be run off of the vehicle gas tank (down to 1/4
tank for safety) and electric remote started from either the vehicle
battery or any auxiliary battery. It is small and compact and could be
mounted externally on your van. It is RF quiet and very reasonable for
audible noise (not quite as quiet as the Honda EU1000). We run the
transceivers and accessories on the West Mountain PWRGATE with quiet
switching supplies on one side and smaller batteries on the other side
for backup and under way. The big amps are all running on an astron 70A
supply. I have an idea for battery substitution on the Astron by
placing 18V of battery on the input to the regulator. This is a work in
progress and not yet built and tested.
Life really got simpler when we went over to the Generator with one
exception --- When the Air Conditioner on the RV is running , and you
try to run one of the 400w anps plus a second transceiver all at the
same time, the generator moans, groans, and protests!
Good luck and 73,
Jim K3LFO/R
John D'Ausilio wrote:
> After the most excellent NEWS group meeting on Saturday, I drove home
> with some new ideas churning around in my brain .. mostly as a result
> of seeing an LDMOS based FM broadcast pallet amp about the size of a
> postcard that would do 750W on 48V.
>
> I'm going to need to replace my battery bank this year .. it's seen
> hard use and is ready to go the the great battery recycler in the sky.
> Question is, should I consider "going generator"?
>
> I'm interested in direct rover experience with small portable
> generators .. good and bad experiences, recommendations pro or con,
> etc. One thing that's nice about the self-contained rover is the
> (relative) inconspicuousness .. it I have to pull out a generator and
> start it up and run a cable back to the rover that's much more
> obnoxious in public places than an idling van. Fuel might be another
> inconvenience .. or maybe not if a tank lasts as long as the driving
> tank does. I'm sure other things will occur to me .. change = fear :(
>
> de w1rt/john
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>
--
*Jim Erickson*
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