Ooops, forgot to mention, that the big UPS is only to cover
a reasonable amount of time until the generators are up
running and stable, and to cover the glitch in the
switching.
73, Gerry K8GT
> There is something that hasn't been addressed. Be sure
> that the UPS is always in the circuit, not one that gets
> switched in when AC mains fail. That would be OK for
> lights, but not computers. Working in TV (2 stations)
> corporate and local management do not want any failures,
we
> are putting a bunch of smaller ones in to cover us while
we
> plan the one that will be housed in a separate building to
> power our whole tech center and all the computer network
> servers. Somewhere around 500 kVA to 750 kVA. All have
to
> be series type.
>
> 73, Gerry K8GT
>
>
>
>
> > Since so many people have responded privately with
> questions, I thought I would
> > share some additional information with everyone.
> >
> > How much capacity do I need in my UPS?
> > You need to know how much power will be drawn when the
> unit kickc in and the
> > length of time you want the mains voltage to be
available
> to the equipment. APC
> > provides a calculator to help you figure this out
> > [http://www.apc.com/template/size/apc/].
> >
> > What else should I look for in UPS features?
> > The only other thing that's nice is the "unattended
server
> shutdown" feature.
> > This is a piece of software on your computer that
connects
> to the UPS over a
> > serial port, and detects when the UPS has gone active.
It
> then gracefully shuts
> > down the computer. Some UPSs and their software can
handle
> multiple computers.
> > This is great if you are away from the shack when the
> power fails.
> >
> > What companies sell these things?
> > APC www.apc.com
> > Tripplite
> >
> > How much should I pay for a UPS?
> > As much as you want. You can buy low-power units at
> Wallmart or Costco or BJ's
> > for under $100. I bought a used commercial unit APC
Smart
> UPS 2200 RM3U on ebay
> > [www.ebay.com] for $600. This unit is a 2200VA
rack-mount
> system. You can pay a
> > lot more for more power. There are all kinds of deals on
> ebay. Enter "APC UPS"
> > in the search engine. The only thing you need to watch
out
> for is whether the
> > batteries are dead. All you can do on ebay is ask
> specifically and trust the
> > seller. On the other hand, there is a strong secondary
> market for good
> > batteries. This is because some safety regulations
> actually require scheduled
> > battery replacement - whether the batteries are good or
> bad.
> >
> > That's about all I know!
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Jim Idelson K1IR
> > email k1ir@designet.com
> > web http://www.designet.com/k1ir
> >
> > ---------- Forwarded Message ----------
> >
> > FROM: Jim Idelson <k1ir@designet.com>
> > TO: CQ-Contest Post <cq-contest@contesting.com>
> > DATE: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 15:11:03 -0500
> >
> > RE: An ounce of prevention...
> >
> > While not everything was perfect for us during last
> weekends ARRL DX SSB
> > Contest, one thing went extremely well. Here's the
> story...
> >
> > We were a casual M/2 operation. On Sunday morning, I was
> operating 10m and W1VE
> > was on the 15m station. We were running like crazy.
> Suddenly, there was a power
> > glitch in the house. The Acom amps turned off. All the
> digital clocks in the
> > house were blinking. The refrigerator went through its
> self-test sequence.
> > Except for having to restart the Acom amps, the entire
> contest station -
> > radios, computers, accessories - stayed on-the-air . We
> didn't miss a beat.
> > Why? A few months ago, after some disastrous brushes
with
> lightning, one of the
> > protective measures I took was to buy a used 2kVA UPS on
> eBay. The unit powers
> > EVERY 110vac device in my office/shack. The UPS
sustained
> the power to
> > everything through the glitch - eliminating what would
> have been, at a minimum,
> > a costly 30+ minute recovery process to get all the
> computers, logs and radios
> > back on-the-air. And, it could have been a lot worse
than
> that! ["Excuse me,
> > ZF2MM, we had a little power failure up here. May I
please
> have my frequency
> > back?" I don't think so.]
> >
> > Needless to say, I highly recommend a UPS for the
> well-prepared contester's
> > shack!
> >
> > 73,
> >
> > Jim Idelson K1IR
> > email k1ir@designet.com
> > web http://www.designet.com/k1ir
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CQ-Contest mailing list
> > CQ-Contest@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/cq-contest
>
> _______________________________________________
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