Ditto to Andy's comments. There is a reason we use Honda's for Field Day and remote activation. They just purr....and purr...and purr....running for 10-12 hours on a single gallon of fuel without waking up the crickets.
I went through 2 el cheapo units before I bought a Honda EU2000i (that is, 2kw inverter model) that was used for almost 3 weeks straight during Ike. Fridge, freezer, TV, fans. 2kw won't run a coffee pot or microwave AND all the other stuff....but....it can be hand carried by just about anyone. During the 3 weeks of Ike recovery, I would stop it....change oil....pulled once and it restarted. And it's been used at many 24-48 hr events since. Personally.....Yamaha or Honda would lead my list if I had to buy another. Good thing....I don't plan to have to buy another! Kirk KK2Z On Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 12:57 AM, Andy via BVARC <[email protected]> wrote: > WA5WOD was on the end of the list for power-line repairs after Ike. His > 2KW Honda did wonders (window unit and regular refrigerator). My el-cheapo > Harbor Freight generator was fine for a few days of keeping the freezer > frozen and running things like the electric chain saw, but WA5WOD went two > weeks before power was restored. The Honda was stellar. Enough said... If I > could afford a Honda, I would get one... Perhaps I should consider the > consequences of NOT having one... > > > > Andy W5ACM > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* BVARC [[email protected]] on behalf of Keith Dutson via > BVARC [[email protected]] > *Sent:* Thursday, October 16, 2014 8:56 PM > *To:* 'McClure, Rob K'; 'BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB' > *Subject:* Re: [BVARC] Best buys in portable generators? > > Rob, > > > > This is an excellent question. > > > > First, let me congratulate you on your new Woodville acquisition. Is it > going to be a retirement property? > > > > The generator you likely want is the Honda 2KW unit. There is an ad in > QST every month offering it for a special price to hams. It is much more > than a generator. It also includes an inverter that yields a sine wave > output, similar to the output supplied by the local power company. This > means it is perfect for your radio gear. Additionally, it is lightweight > and quiet. You will get spoiled by these attributes, compared to other > generators in the same class. Finally, there is little maintenance to > perform to keep the unit in tip-top shape. You will likely get 12 or more > hours of operation from one tank of gas. > > > > Having recommended the Honda, there may be reasons to get a different > unit. For example, if you are looking to have a standby generator for an > RV, portable building or small house, with appliances using 240 volts, the > Honda will not do the job. I bought a Briggs and Stratton Storm Responder > (5500 watts continuous/8500 watts surge) to provide standby power for my > barn (B and S sells a heavy duty cable for this purpose, or you can get the > parts from Lowes). This generator costs about the same as the Honda, but > has a 240 volt output. It is heavy, but rolls around fairly well on hard > ground. It always starts with one pull. I keep it full of gas at all > times, and add Briggs and Stratton fuel preservative, available at > Wal-Mart. There are enough power outages here to run it at least two times > each year. I found 1 ounce per 2 gallons of gas keeps the gas fresh at > least four years. That’s how long I waited after hurricane Ike to drain > the tank and refill with fresh gas. I then burned the gas in my lawn mower > without a problem. > > > > You can find many generators that claim to compare with the above units, > but for much less cash. I don’t have any experience with these, but have > heard from others that the cheap units do not last long, and usually have > maintenance issues, something you really don’t need when there is a power > outage. > > > > 73, Keith NM5G > > > > *From:* BVARC [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *McClure, > Rob K via BVARC > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 15, 2014 7:31 PM > *To:* BVARC ([email protected]) > *Subject:* [BVARC] Best buys in portable generators? > > > > Hello all, > > > > Closed on my ham friendly QTH in Woodville TX and starting on Oct. 24th > will start stringing some nice wire antennas until I can get a tower up. > > > > I would like to back everything up with a portable generator which would > also be nice to have for roving, and park work. > > > > Opinions: who has the best buys in portable generators? Yamaha prices are > right up with Honda now, but now I see Generac, Ryobi and Hyundai all > making less expensive but comparable output generators. > > > > Thanks in advance for your input. > > > > 73, Rob, KC5RET > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and > may contain confidential and privileged information of Cameron and its > Operating Divisions. Any unauthorized use or disclosure is prohibited. If > you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply > email and delete and destroy all copies of the original message inclusive > of any attachments. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > _______________________________________________ > BVARC mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org > >
_______________________________________________ BVARC mailing list [email protected] http://mail.bvarc.org/mailman/listinfo/bvarc_bvarc.org
