[Boatanchors] 120 - 240vac and output

[WA5CAB at cs.com]

Gary,

Well, yes.  I used one ohm as the resistance of each of the primary windings 
more because it made it easier to discuss than because it was necessarily what 
you would expect to find in practice.  And you're absolutely right about a 
lot of people plugging equipment into the most conveniently available outlet.  
Probably most of them just wanted to see whether the rig worked first, and 
intended to go back later and do it right.  And then some never did.

One thing I had forgotten about is that there's probably a lot of housing 
(especially in the Northeast) with wiring systems dating to the first half of the 
last century.  For a number of reasons, that's much less likely to be the 
case here in the South.  Although now that I think back, a house that I rented 
for a while in the late 60's had open tube and post wiring in the attic.  First 
thing I did, though, was run a separate 30 amp 120/240 service from the meter 
directly to the room I turned into the shack.

But if you are stuck with wiring that's too light for the load at 120 volts, 
then converting it to 240 volts would certainly decrease the losses.

Oh, BTW, one ohm of #14-2 Romex is about 196 feet long.  :-)

In a message dated 11/27/2004 11:11:56 AM Central Standard Time, 
garyschafer at comcast.net writes: 
> The key word here is "EXAMPLES". All these voltage drop figures that are 
> being thrown around are just examples. They could be anything. The 
> EXAMPLES are just to show the relationship between the two different 
> systems. Of course 10% voltage drop on the mains is excessive but the 10 
> volt figure is a nice round number that is easily followed for an example.
> 
> But in reality it may not be far from the mark either. There are lots of 
> people that plug their amp into any old outlet and try to run it without 
> consideration of the adequacy of the supply line.
> 
> Designing 120 volt supply systems verses 240 systems could use the same 
> size wire in either. It would not be uncommon to find a 120 volt outlet 
> wired with #12 wire or a 240 volt outlet also wired with #12 wire. 
> either circuit would be carried with a 20 amp breaker. Nothing wrong 
> with either.
> Only thing is that the differences in voltage drops that were being 
> discussed come into play.
> 
> If you were specifically installing a line to run an amp of course 
> consideration for exactly what the requirements were would be thought of 
> I would think.
> 

73
Robert Downs - Houston
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