Russell,

On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 02:48:18 +1300, Russell McMahon wrote:

> Nobody has commented on the suitability of a 1 phase motor to act as a 
> rotary electromechanical AC capacitor (such as works well on 3 phase 
> systems). I'll try that first as, if it worked, it would be an 
> exceedingly simple solution.

I'd hate to think what would happen when the speed of the motor and the generator get out of step - I think 
you need to try this with a 'scope on the resulting output and see what it looks like - it may be horrible, 
and if you're powering amplifiers that may end up as noise on the output.

My favourite would be a decent UPS (APC Smart-UPS for example) which would smooth the voltage wanderings by 
changing transformer taps, and step in and take over if they pass way outside the tolerances.  I don't know 
about there, but over here you can pick up second-hand UPSs pretty cheap, especially if the battery is on the 
way out (irrelevant in this case because you won't be calling on it for more than a few seconds at a time).

I have a Smart-UPS 700 that could be pressed into service, but for the 24h shipping cost from here to there 
you could probably buy a decent 10kW generator that wouldn't notice the load you're giving it!  :-)

I don't suppose you know anyone with a Landrover (the old ones, not the car-style they make now) with a power 
take-off to which you could connect the alternator you have?  A Landrover engine wouldn't notice the load and 
you could set the throttle by hand... just a lateral thought!

Cheers,


Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


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