Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at picking up a Chicago Electric Generator Model# 97906
from Harbor Freight to run a few things around the hose incase of a
power outage, but I was wondering about the 12V Battery Charging
Socket. Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this, or is it designed specifically for charging a
battery and nothing else? I've read through the manual online -
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...7999/97906.pdf - and it
just mentions using it for a battery ... but it'd be nice to use this
for my radio as well.

Just checking...

Thanks,

Alex

(Alex) wrote in
:

Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this,

Probably not. Since it's explicitly described as being a battery
charge circuit, it's unlikely that the voltage regulation would be
particulary good, especially when your rig is in receive mode drawing
little current. The amount of noise on the DC would probably be
pretty bad too.

On the other hand, running your rig from a battery which you charge
from the generator (with appropriate filters and charge and voltage
control circuitry) wouldn't be a bad idea.

With the emphasis on emergency preparedness in the past few years,
QST's been full of articles describing how to do this, and ARRL even
has a book, "Emergency Power for Radio Communications", covering the
subject.

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

I would think that as long as you had a car battery connected, in
addition to your radio, it'd work OK. The battery acts as a BFC,
soaking up transients and boosting sags. If you really want to go
overboard, I'd try an Optima yellow top deep discharge gel battery.

-dickm

On Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:08:19 -0700 (PDT), Alex
wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at picking up a Chicago Electric Generator Model# 97906
from Harbor Freight to run a few things around the hose incase of a
power outage, but I was wondering about the 12V Battery Charging
Socket. Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this, or is it designed specifically for charging a
battery and nothing else? I've read through the manual online -
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...7999/97906.pdf - and it
just mentions using it for a battery ... but it'd be nice to use this
for my radio as well.

Just checking...

Thanks,

Alex

In article , Alex wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at picking up a Chicago Electric Generator Model# 97906
from Harbor Freight to run a few things around the hose incase of a
power outage, but I was wondering about the 12V Battery Charging
Socket. Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this, or is it designed specifically for charging a
battery and nothing else? I've read through the manual online -
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...7999/97906.pdf - and it
just mentions using it for a battery ... but it'd be nice to use this
for my radio as well.

Just checking...

Thanks,

Alex

It would be totally 0-14 volts 10 volts average, unless its three phase.
Use a battery in parallel.

greg

On Sep 11, 11:38*am, (GregS) wrote:
In article , Alex wrote:





Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at picking up a Chicago Electric Generator Model# 97906
from Harbor Freight to run a few things around the hose incase of a
power outage, but I was wondering about the 12V Battery Charging
Socket. *Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this, or is it designed specifically for charging a
battery and nothing else? *I've read through the manual online -
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...999/97906.pdf- and it
just mentions using it for a battery ... but it'd be nice to use this
for my radio as well.

Just checking...

Thanks,

Alex

It would be totally 0-14 volts 10 volts average, unless its three phase.
Use a battery in parallel.

greg- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If it was 0-14 10v average then it wont charge a battery, will it. A
battery charges to 13.3v.

On Sep 11, 9:08*am, Alex wrote:
Just checking...

What everyone else said. The output from most home generators is
electrically pretty noisy. If I hook my PC up to my generator it runs
fine but when I stick in a UPS in between them (which I always do) I
have to turn off active line monitoring as it is going off almost
continuously.

On Sep 11, 9:08*am, Alex wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at picking up a Chicago Electric Generator Model# 97906
from Harbor Freight to run a few things around the hose incase of a
power outage, but I was wondering about the 12V Battery Charging
Socket. *Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this, or is it designed specifically for charging a
battery and nothing else? *I've read through the manual online -http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals/97000-97999/97906.pdf- and it
just mentions using it for a battery ... but it'd be nice to use this
for my radio as well.

Just checking...

Thanks,

Alex

Knowing HF , check all voltages before using it, check at no load and
full load to understand its limitations. I have seen gens new set at
150v ruining apliances in an instant. Calibrate it yourself. Will the
12v option work, who knows, put a meter on it. Is it a HF chinese unit?

On Sep 11, 9:08*am, Alex wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at picking up a Chicago Electric Generator Model# 97906
from Harbor Freight to run a few things around the hose incase of a
power outage, but I was wondering about the 12V Battery Charging
Socket. *Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this, or is it designed specifically for charging a
battery and nothing else? *I've read through the manual online -http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals/97000-97999/97906.pdf- and it
just mentions using it for a battery ... but it'd be nice to use this
for my radio as well.

Just checking...

Thanks,

Alex

A 2.5 hp 1000w unit, what a toy, it might not even start your frige.
Is that 1000 continous or surge load. Go to Hondas site to learn about
Surge Loads. A gen like that could ruin electronics, learn about gens
before you use it.

In article , ransley wrote:
On Sep 11, 9:08=A0am, Alex wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at picking up a Chicago Electric Generator Model# 97906
from Harbor Freight to run a few things around the hose incase of a
power outage, but I was wondering about the 12V Battery Charging
Socket. =A0Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this, or is it designed specifically for charging a
battery and nothing else? =A0I've read through the manual online -http://=
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals...999/97906.pdf- and it
just mentions using it for a battery ... but it'd be nice to use this
for my radio as well.

Just checking...

Thanks,

Alex

A 2.5 hp 1000w unit, what a toy, it might not even start your frige.
Is that 1000 continous or surge load. Go to Hondas site to learn about
Surge Loads. A gen like that could ruin electronics, learn about gens
before you use it.

Probably about 800 wats max.
Good to have a 4KW for one fridge.

greg

On Sep 12, 9:12*am, (GregS) wrote:
In article , ransley wrote:





On Sep 11, 9:08=A0am, Alex wrote:
Hi Everyone,

I'm looking at picking up a Chicago Electric Generator Model# 97906
from Harbor Freight to run a few things around the hose incase of a
power outage, but I was wondering about the 12V Battery Charging
Socket. =A0Could I run any 12-volt item, specifically a 2m amateur
radio, from this, or is it designed specifically for charging a
battery and nothing else? =A0I've read through the manual online -http://=
http://www.harborfreight.com/manuals.../97906.pdf-and it
just mentions using it for a battery ... but it'd be nice to use this
for my radio as well.

Just checking...

Thanks,

Alex

A 2.5 hp 1000w unit, what a toy, it might not even start your frige.
Is that 1000 continous or surge load. Go to Hondas site to learn about
Surge Loads. A gen like that could ruin electronics, learn about gens
before you use it.

Probably about 800 wats max.
Good to have a 4KW for one fridge.

greg- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

The problem with a frige is surge load at startup. Mine runs at
110watts but surge is near 600. some can be near 900w. A frige also
has a peak load time that is when the defroster is on. 1000w is not
much to play with, as some gens can also drop to under 100v under
load.