On 2009-05-20, Jon Anderson wrote:
Ned & Bill,

Thanks for the input. Gunner thinks my Omniturn control might run OK on
50hz, and it dawns on me that perhaps my home brew power supply for the
CNC mill might work OK too since power is rectified to DC. Certainly,
both computer's power supplies can be switched to 220/50Hz.

If I'm going to do anything for power conversion, I thought I might as
well go all out so that the many 110v tools I have can be used. Baldor
carbide grinder, the Deckel I still hope to obtain, torque limiting
power screwdriver, hand drills, power shears, grinders, Dremels, etc.
Individually not terribly expensive, but as a whole there is a lot of
capability in all these tools that would cost a pretty penny to
repurchase over there. And I have a pretty killer shop stereo setup I'd
love to take along.... G.

Hmm ... for the lower powered things, a big autotransformer (or
a stepdown isolation transformer). You want one rated for 50 Hz of
course, so you might do better getting that in OZ. One option is a big
(e.g. 20A or so) 240 V Variac or Powerstat. Most of them have a center
tap, so you can wire your outlets between neutral and the center tap and
not have to worry about someone spinning the big wheel (knob) and frying
what is connected to it. I have seen a kid do precisely this, in an
audio facility in an embassy. The load needed to be hooked to the wiper
for that use, because the line voltage was rather untrustworthy. You
might wire a second outlet, with a cover painted bright red, to the
wiper soyou can test equipment at lower or higher voltages.

Good Luck,
DoN.

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