[VHFcontesting] Generators & Roving

[Dave Agsten]

Steve and others,

A generator is nice, but there are, as with most everything, both pros and cons. On the plus side, you have a source of power that should be good for the entire contest. I tried one while roving for one contest.....then I went back to batteries. I almost never operated off of the truck battery.

I used standard marine deep cycle batteries for awhile and then added a couple of real nice batteries that were used in large UPSs. They worked great. I did a lot of operating and never really took the battery down to where it was unusable. I'd usually take 3 or 4 batteries with me. If I came home at night, I'd put them on a charger and they'd be ready to go in the morning.

Also, there are times and places where a generator is not allowed to be operated. If there is a high possibility of fire, some parks ban generator usage. I believe there are also rules as far as having a spark arrestor incorporated into the generator. There is some sort of specification for this that has to be certified if I recall correctly.

I'd say go with batteries.

73,
Dave N8AG