[Rover] Power Inverter Question

[Steve Meuse]

At 08:32 PM 5/19/2004 -0400, Bill Seabreeze wrote:
>Hi Steve,
>Sri to have to tell you this, but they are mostly all trouble
>as for RFI.  I have heard that the inverters sold by Astron
>are RF-quiet, but haven't yet seen one in person.  Some
>of the expensive units made by Trace Engineering are also
>quiet, but very pricey.  Not all true sine-wave units are RF
>quiet.  I thought I could solve this problem using a Honda
>generator bolted to the rear bumper of my van...no joy...
>the Honda EU-1000i is very noisy on 2m.  I eventually
>went with an Exeltech sine wave unit, but it also was noisy
>until I enclosed it into a very RF-shielded box, and used
>high quality RFI filters for the DC in and AC out.
>
>My recommendation is to try the Astron units.  K5UHF
>says they are quiet, and others have also confirmed this.

Cool, thanks for the info. I'll try to find a dealer for them.

This brings up another point. I've heard that the Honda EU-1000 is noisy, 
has anyone tried the new Yamaha equivalent? I think the model number is 
EF1000iS. After calling around, this generator seems to have about the same 
specs, but in my area is about $100 cheaper. Ideally I want to avoid this 
and just get a 100-150amp alternator for my car, but I haven't been able to 
find one for my Subaru. I'm nervous that the stock alternator isn't beefy 
enough to charge a couple of batteries. My operating plan (my first time 
doing this) is to stay about 1-2 hours per location. Assuming that I'm not 
running the car the entire time (should I?) I would guess that I would put 
a serious dent in a couple of batteries after a couple of hours of constant 
operation. This is basically the last hurdle that I need to overcome before 
the contest. Any input would be appreciated...

-Steve
N1JFU