[VHFcontesting] Inverters and roving

[k4gun at comcast.net]

As usual, I have received a number of excellent comments and suggestions and that has lead to a few more questions on my part.  As is also usual, a lot of those comments came to me directly and not through the list.  I'm going to try to respond to a few of those in a single posting.

First, one person asked if I had added ferrites to the DC input.  The answer is no.  The battery and inverter are sitting side by side inside the tool box.  I can certainly add them, but I'm not sure if that would do any good.  The battery is charged by the alternator and there are no ferrites on that either.  That again would be easy enough if anybody thinks it would do any good.  

I have ruled out getting a DC operated rotor.  Its a great idea, although expensive.  It doesn't power my laptop and therefore, I'm still in need of an inverter.

One person suggested a generator.  I had ruled that out because it just adds complication.  Each time I park, it means getting out and starting it.  Not a huge deal, I know, but my goal has been efficiency and maximizing operating time.  That suggestion is back on the table, but I'm still not sure I want to go that way.

One other person suggested good results with the Exceltech brand of inverter.  Its not cheap which brings up the question of how much power I really need.  The have a 250 watt model (300 surge) for $484 and a 600 watt for $775.  Obviously, 600 will work, but would I be able to get away with the 250 watt model?  

Again, thanks to all for the great responses.  Y'all have been an invaluable resource.

Steve K4GUN

-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: k4gun at comcast.net 

> Well, my new rover system is just about complete. I posted some pics on QRZ if 
> you're interested: http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=163565 
> 
> I've run into a problem though. I decided to spend the money and get a pure 
> sine wave inverter. Based on opinions here and elsewhere, I figured this caused 
> the least amount of noise. I also mounted it in the steel toolbox and attached 
> a couple of ferrite beads on the electric cord. The battery is also in the tool 
> box. 
> 
> Sounds like a good plan, right? Well... not so much. It turns out that all 
> pure sine wave inverters are not always as quite as you would think. On 50 MHz, 
> I have an S4 noise floor and a buzz on the calling frequency. When turning the 
> antenna, its an S8 noise. Its seem fine on 144 and 432, but on 50, its just a 
> nightmare. When I turned the inverter off, the noise dropped to S1 or less. 
> This is an AIMS inverter that I bought off e-bay from a company called Energy 
> Igloo. 
> 
> I'm about tapped out for this contest. I think I'm going to get a DC adapter 
> for the laptop and just use the truck as a rotator. Maybe I'll use my 
> "stimulus" check for another inverter. Any suggestions on which one to get 
> would be greatly appreciated. Any other thoughts or suggestions would be great 
> as well. 
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