Small genset

Not bulky at all. Tie it to a tree, then have at it:

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Dang, that is cool. How much is it?

George H.

It can't be too small or you can't hold/mount it properly anymore.

That'll give you terrible "saddle sores".

If you have the time, yes, but it takes quite a bit to equip it with handles, holders, enclosure etc. Might be better to just buy one. However, I don't know the prices.

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I want it to be smaller than the battery.

The idea of mounting it on a tree is interesting. I had envisioned something (with *one* crank) that I could hold between my knees/ankles. The two cranks are also an interesting approach.

I tried running a battery powered hedge trimmer "backwards" and that seemed to work OK. A few amps into a dead short. About 18-20V open circuit. But, since everything is made out of *plastic* nowadays, there would be no way to remove the motor and site it in a different (size/shape) container. (i.e., the motor itself relies on the plastic to keep armature in place -- PoS).

But, that's given me ideas as to other battery operated devices that I might try to cannabilize...

My original plan was to mount it and battery in a single enclosure. Saves connectors, etc. Remember, size + weight aren't your friends when you don't have transportation available and have to carry everything! :>

This is s.e.d... :>

I think a crank from a bicycle would be effective and sturdy as all hell. OTOH, the "two crank" version you mentioned could lend itself to "foot power" that way.

Sure, but you've got to mount it somewhere or it'll flip-flop all over the place when you try to crank. Case in point: A guy from a TV station told me that the camera men strapped 5-7 lbs of dead weight onto their new CCD cameras so they would be up to the weight of the old ones. To be able to keep them steady.

Doesn't mean lots of time :-)

Yep. Arms get really tired, really fast. Legs can pedal for hours and hours. Unless you are on a row boat team :-)

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A cordless drill with a dead battery comes to mind.

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Your arms are gonna fall off, real quick, at 20-30W. How long do you figure you'll have to crank the thing?

Ed

:> Higher outputs

Well, better start doing push-ups. You goal should be 200 in one stretch :-)

Or get a kayak and plough it through the lake at full bore, every day, rain or shine.

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I don't expect to need to generate 20+W. Rather, I think

*sizing* for that will put the "sweet spot" of the genset in a more comfortable ergonomic operating point.

I think the rig uses about 5-6W during Rx. Tx obviously is the killer :> But, that's what you have a battery for :>

(i.e., store the power you are generating for those times when you key the rig).

Even at 20W, I think it is doable for "reasonable" stretches provided you have enough mechanical advantage. E.g., a short crank will kill you a lot quicker than a long one.

Yeah, I started looking through my "collection". Unfortunately, the ones with dead batteries are the "toys" that were ineffective hence they were unused and batteries left to die.

There is some advantage to a *non-dead* battery as then the battery storage is implicitly taken care of (though the batteries on cordless drills tend to be on the small side :< )

I will have to play some more...

No, my upper body exercise of choice is cutting down trees and digging out the root balls. Four 50'+ in the past year. The hole I dug to remove the root ball for the last one took 7 tons of topsoil to fill (*after* removing the stump to a depth of 4 ft... no idea where the damn soil sneaks off to! :< ).

Though I suspect this also places demands on lower body (lifting the soil out of the hole) -- hard to figure out just what portion of the work is done where (though your shoulders sure ache after one of these "events"!). Of course, walking 25+ miles every week helps keep the lower body "well oiled"! :>

Putting 6W into a battery for 10 minutes will be a piece of cake!

I have a couple junk drills and one motor from a new drill that someone broke the output shaft of the gearbox. It is from a 18 volt drill. I am going to gut the 14.4 volt drill battery packs and add a 20 foot cord with a cigarette lighter plug so I can use them with one of those 12 volt lead acid 'jump packs' made to start a car with a dead battery. I already use one with a portable DVD player to watch old movies.

Have you ever seen the hand crank generators made for military radios, in W.W. II? AKA: a 'Gibson Girl' radio.

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Wow! Ok, I take everything back, you must be in top shape. I did split a lot of firewood but it's been a while and I probably won't be able to compete.

When I was younger I could have competed. Torqued off a 16mm-thread crane hook at a company ... screeeee ... *POCK* ... thoroughly impressed the guys that an electronics jockey could do this.

Same here, I spend a lot more on sports shoes than on car tires. But 25 miles/week ain't that much.

Yes, now I believe it. Maybe put a li'l solar panel on top to cheat a bit :-)

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You might find this "won't work" :> (I can't say for sure) I tried doing this many years ago with a battery pack from a cordless Gardner Denver WW gun. I was only using a *short* length of wire and the IR drops in the cable were unreasonable. (of course, I think the battery was a much lower voltage... I'm not sure of the details).

Point is: test this before you invest lots of time and effort so you don't find yourself disappointed. (also test under load)

Yes, this was what I had in mind for packaging. I think the genset for that radio was pretty puny, though. Akin to these hand cranked "emergency radio/flashlight/foot massagers" they sell nowadays (how many t's in "toy"?)

Hmmm... even if I don't *gut* the "good" drills, maybe I can still use them to empirically derive some information regarding power (and V and I) available for a given "rated" motor...

It's amazing how much more tiring this sort of thing is than walking (I walk at a brisk pace... 4 miles in under an hour)! And, with the very low humidity here, you don't have the usual "drenched in perspiration" cues to let you know you are pushing yourself harder than it *feels* (until, of course, you get light headed -- a cheap high? :> -- and the attendant headache from dehydration :< )

No "competition". Rather, a simple acknowledgement that I'm getting older and if I don't invest time in keeping "fit", there are serious health consequences. :<

No, but finding more *time* is the hard part. By the time you count getting dressed to go, it's almost an hour a day (well, my goal is an hour a day which would be 28 miles/week... but, I invariably miss a day ;> ). I have not been able to find anything *else* that can be done *while* walking so it appears (superficially, at least) to be "a big waste of time". :<

I thought about that. But:

1) doesn't work at night 2) big and bulky (I looked into trying to design some sort of a "folding" array but the hardware to support the panels weighs more than just carrying another *battery*!)

Maybe when the flexible panels become affordable...

Joel and I have a condition that _requires_ daily excursions by hoofing it: We have large dogs. If they don't get their walk my wife and I have to contend with three cranky and contentious companions all evening ;-)

All I have to do is don the running shoes and off we go.

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Music. But I can do that while *working* (or any other activity). I don't process technical information aurally so the latter two options don't work.

I've tried carrying a PDA and "taking notes" but the damn thing bounces around too much while I am walking (and trying to focus on it means I'm not watching where I am walking -- I've walked into low tree limbs too often! :< )

So, just "walk faster" and get it over with quicker! :>