[GreenKeys] Re: power problems?

[Eugene Hertz]

Thanks again to EVERYONE (dozens!) who have offered some experiences and advice. I did what seemed to be the first step which was to contact con edison (I'm in lower ny) to tell them of my situation. They replied that I must get a licensed electrician to write up, document and file appropriate forms about the situation and his professional opinion of whether it is con ed's problem or not. I asked if they would reimburse me the cost to get this electrician to pass his judgement on the situation if the problem was in fact con edison's and they replied, "we will not commit to that. You first have to get the paperwork done and then we will decide if we will pay for the electrician." 

Now I'm not a person with a tremendous amount of patients. I had already spent 30 minutes on the phone and was getting pretty aggravated with that response. So to be honest, I may not have overturned every rock yet, but I'm already somewhat dissolusioned with my power company (big surprise).

A very nice gentleman on this list has informed me that he might have a 70amp ge inductrol available (seems to be very similar to the sola). Its only a mere 130 lbs and might cost an arm and a leg (and a lumbar or two) to ship from texas. We haven't worked out any details at all but as long as my xyl can live with dimming lights in the rest of the house from the well-pump (she can, she's hardly noticed it) then I might localize my solution with a somewhat tactical approach and cure the symptom not the disease. 

Long term, I will need to et 240vac up into the shack for a 1kw amp I would love to play with (harris rf-130 / URT-23) so if/when I run the new line I may still have the problem. I am investigating if this inductrol can be re-strapped for 240. Right now the information plate says 120v/70a. If this could run on 240 in the future, it would seem a natural addition to the shack regardless of the power company. 

So, I may continue to pursue the power company angle here, but if I get this inductrol, I may give myself plenty of time to work through the bureaucracy and red tape. And even if I get con ed to solve the problem, I am told these devices are very efficient, meaning it would hurt to keep this thing regardless of how clean/dirty the power from the street is.  

I think I will look to my local ham club to see if there are any electricians. I gotta believe a ham/electrician is going to be more knowledgable than a non-ham electrician and would hopefully be more sympathetic to my cause!

So I will certainly keep everyone informed about the progress. In the meantime, if you hear a 170Hz fsk signal that sounds more like mfsk16, its probably me! http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK/Mk6tfc.wav
Thanks again to everone for the outpouring of assistance!
Eugene



-----Original Message-----
From: KC0NNC at aol.com [mailto:KC0NNC at aol.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 08:26 PM
To: ueoguy at yahoo.com, drhouse at nadcomm.com
Cc: ehertz at tcaf.org, greenkeys at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [GreenKeys] Re: power problems?

To UEOGUY:

I made the same suggestion several days ago. Seems like we got a lot of comments on this topic.

I suggested a 1 kW used sola box easily had on E-Bay . Better yet I have purchased them at hamfests for $5.00.

I have yet to see an inoperational one, but I have been told the resonating capacitor can and does short out once in a while.

These are oil filled 8.00 brand new items.

I would not be afraid of a "defective" sola box for $5.00. As far as I am concerned, the sooner he buys one, the sooner he will be on the air. With stable line voltage.

I have a couple of 2 - 5 kW units I bought and never used, the freight would kill you though.

let's ask him to tell us what he does, and if what he does solves the problem, this is the way we learn

73's

Harvey E. Smith
2020 Baculite Mesa Road
Pueblo, CO., 81001-2456
719 406 9735

fka WA0BBG
nka KC0NNC

HarveyEsmith at aol.com

KC0NNC at aol.com


73's