Generator task list
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Howard --
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Here's my 2 cents. I like the idea of a battery, I am not that fond of storing gas in the closed up trailer. There is likely a way to mount the battery in the trailer so it charges as the trailer is being towed to and from events since there is an electric hookup to run the lights while towing, if not I have no problem putting a trickle charger on it between events if needed. I have never gotten less than three years from the gel batteries in my cars, even the autocross only cars that get used 1-2 times per month. According to Kenny, he has run a much larger system than ours for 10 hours off a single charge. We can get a megaphone with external mike for about $80. It will run 10 hours on 8 C or D batteries, I don't know if there is an auxiliary input for a power jack.
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Howard --
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Also, if we do run the generator it doesnt have to be over on the grass where we have to worry about the cord. Just put it out down the middle of the runway between the start and the finish. No one will run over the cord, you make a box with three sides and a top and leave the open side down range. This will quiet it for us and not affct air flow for cooling or exhaust and keeps it on the concrete so there is no fire hazard when it is very dry.
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Freakin' Drew
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A deep cycle battery is probably the simplest and easiest.
Doesn't the trailer have an air conditioner? We should use it if we have it. It's summertime use should be considered as a power draw. If a battery wouldn't be enough, the generator could always be used in the summer if/when needed.
Also, the gas can could simply be emptied into someone's tank before leaving. They all have a vent hole that can be uncapped to let the rest evaporate. It could be simply bungeed to the trailer's tongue.
Easily filled at the nearby Hess.
I think we should have both the generator and a deep cycle battery as options and backup.
Doesn't the trailer have an air conditioner? We should use it if we have it. It's summertime use should be considered as a power draw. If a battery wouldn't be enough, the generator could always be used in the summer if/when needed.
Also, the gas can could simply be emptied into someone's tank before leaving. They all have a vent hole that can be uncapped to let the rest evaporate. It could be simply bungeed to the trailer's tongue.
Easily filled at the nearby Hess.
I think we should have both the generator and a deep cycle battery as options and backup.
Loren wrote:Freakin' Drew and his freakin' Mustang.
dan wrote:Freakin' Drew and his freakin' Miata.
Rawkkrawler wrote:Freakin’ Drew and his OTHER freakin’ Mustang!
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Steve --
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My .02:
Charles had devised a battery system that could power the computer for long enough to get through an event, but when he heard we had a working generator, he said, and I paraphrase, "Shucks, let's just use the generator."
Seems like using the computer is a popular idea, (though I still think we need to manually record times, just in case). We can buy a battery for $90, or that much in gas over the year. If we use the generator, the noise is annoying, and it would certainly be more comfortable away from the trailer. I'm not so sure the middle of the course is safe; the last time we used a generator at B'ville it was in the grass by the green box. Far enough away it wasn't too noisy; ran over the cord all day, just like SPC. I like the PA, especially with an entertaining announcer - wouldn't mind being able to use it (at B'ville, anyway...)
That said, whatever concensus ya'll come to is fine with me.
Charles had devised a battery system that could power the computer for long enough to get through an event, but when he heard we had a working generator, he said, and I paraphrase, "Shucks, let's just use the generator."
Seems like using the computer is a popular idea, (though I still think we need to manually record times, just in case). We can buy a battery for $90, or that much in gas over the year. If we use the generator, the noise is annoying, and it would certainly be more comfortable away from the trailer. I'm not so sure the middle of the course is safe; the last time we used a generator at B'ville it was in the grass by the green box. Far enough away it wasn't too noisy; ran over the cord all day, just like SPC. I like the PA, especially with an entertaining announcer - wouldn't mind being able to use it (at B'ville, anyway...)
That said, whatever concensus ya'll come to is fine with me.
Steven Frank
Class M3 Miata
Proud disciple of the "Push Harder, Suck Less" School of Autocross
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I'll get to it. Eventually...
Class M3 Miata
Proud disciple of the "Push Harder, Suck Less" School of Autocross
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I'll get to it. Eventually...
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If nobody wants to use the computer, that's fine. That said, the only reason we need a continuous power source is that the battery that I got with the laptop from Jamie is totally shot. Bill says he has a laptop for us, which will be used at the main timing laptop in the trailer. Hopefully that battery is better to the point that it could survive turning off the generator for a few minutes to refill it with gas. However, keep in mind that finding a laptop battery to last for almost 10 hours (7-5 if we run registration on it too) is pretty hard.
Hence why I suggested a deep-cycle. We use them for computer carts when doing vehicle or platform testing and they can last for quite a while (at least the 90Amp/hr batteries we use). I can't remember if Charles was running off his laptop's internal battery also with his battery setup, so I'll let him comment on that.
Also, one thing to keep in mind is that, should we continue to use computer timing, it might be nice to have a printer to print heat times, or run lists, or anything else we might find useful.
And Steve, the software ran pretty smooth. Howard was writing times, I was watching the computer screen, entering penalties/off course and calling times out to Loren. It really does work well as long as you get the registration part right, which is what I was doing for the first 2 hours of the day.
Hence why I suggested a deep-cycle. We use them for computer carts when doing vehicle or platform testing and they can last for quite a while (at least the 90Amp/hr batteries we use). I can't remember if Charles was running off his laptop's internal battery also with his battery setup, so I'll let him comment on that.
Also, one thing to keep in mind is that, should we continue to use computer timing, it might be nice to have a printer to print heat times, or run lists, or anything else we might find useful.
And Steve, the software ran pretty smooth. Howard was writing times, I was watching the computer screen, entering penalties/off course and calling times out to Loren. It really does work well as long as you get the registration part right, which is what I was doing for the first 2 hours of the day.
Kenny Gardner
2004 "Triple Nickel" WRX
2004 "Triple Nickel" WRX
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I don't think it's an issue of no one wants to use the computer, especially with all the time, energy and money we've already put into it. We oughta give it a good try, and also make sure several people are trained to use it.
The question is just about how to power the computer...
printer-wise, I have a couple of old HP inkjets - may or may not be feasible depending on how much printing we're gonna do...a few pages ok; lots of pages, ink is costly. A cheap laserjet can be had for around 100, should be more economical to use. But let's do this one step at a time and make sure we're happy with it and are gonna keep with it.
The question is just about how to power the computer...
printer-wise, I have a couple of old HP inkjets - may or may not be feasible depending on how much printing we're gonna do...a few pages ok; lots of pages, ink is costly. A cheap laserjet can be had for around 100, should be more economical to use. But let's do this one step at a time and make sure we're happy with it and are gonna keep with it.
Steven Frank
Class M3 Miata
Proud disciple of the "Push Harder, Suck Less" School of Autocross
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I'll get to it. Eventually...
Class M3 Miata
Proud disciple of the "Push Harder, Suck Less" School of Autocross
______________
I'll get to it. Eventually...
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Bill Flowers
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I'm just waiting for Accounting to get the asset number and make sure it is listed as "Trash" along with the other 8 non-working laptops. The battery works, but I don't know how well (it might be perfect for all I know).Alizarin wrote:Bill says he has a laptop for us, which will be used at the main timing laptop in the trailer. Hopefully that battery is better to the point that it could survive turning off the generator for a few minutes to refill it with gas.
The Jag complains about autoX by throwing Gearbox Faults.
I think it is just lazy.
I think it is just lazy.
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Can't you save the info on the computer to the hard drive then shut it off? If you can do that , you don't need a battery, and we can refuel the generator between run groups.
Last edited by Solar on Tue Mar 20, 2007 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Brian K
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Howard --
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On the concrete wouldn't really be in the middle of the course, just out front of the trailer. It has to be safer than in a bunch of grass and running over the cord all day. This is how they set the generator up at Ft Myers (although there is a lot more space) If we want to run printers, and especially the AC we will certainly need a generator rather than a battery.
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I don't think the problem is the genrator igniting the grass, it's more of a noise issue, if you put the genrator on a piece of plywood there won't be a problem. The cord can handle getting run over, think of it as a speed bump.impalanut wrote:On the concrete wouldn't really be in the middle of the course, just out front of the trailer. It has to be safer than in a bunch of grass and running over the cord all day. This is how they set the generator up at Ft Myers (although there is a lot more space) If we want to run printers, and especially the AC we will certainly need a generator rather than a battery.

Brian K
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Loren Williams
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You need the battery for when the generator dies (because someone forgot to fuel it or whatever) or when somebody trips over the cord, or some other unexpected event. Trust me, it WILL happen.
If nothing else, having 5-10 minutes of backup battery is enough to allow the data to be saved and the computer shut down when that unexpected event happens.
If nothing else, having 5-10 minutes of backup battery is enough to allow the data to be saved and the computer shut down when that unexpected event happens.
Loren Williams - Loren @ Invisiblesun.org
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Suck Less - Drive something resembling a proper racing line.
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Just buy a new battery for the laptop then...Loren wrote:You need the battery for when the generator dies (because someone forgot to fuel it or whatever) or when somebody trips over the cord, or some other unexpected event. Trust me, it WILL happen.
If nothing else, having 5-10 minutes of backup battery is enough to allow the data to be saved and the computer shut down when that unexpected event happens.
-Dave
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Great!WAFlowers wrote:The new laptop has been idling on battery power (no programs running) for the past 40+ minutes!It is down to 81%.
So are we all in agreement to use the generator?
If yes, then we can iron out where we're going to place it, and when to re-fuel it. I'll volunteer to be the "gas man".
Brian K
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Charles --
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That was also before I realized our generator wouldnt run for an entire event without 3-4 refillsNative wrote:My .02:
Charles had devised a battery system that could power the computer for long enough to get through an event, but when he heard we had a working generator, he said, and I paraphrase, "Shucks, let's just use the generator."

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Dave --
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So we put a bigger gas tank on itCharles wrote:That was also before I realized our generator wouldnt run for an entire event without 3-4 refillsNative wrote:My .02:
Charles had devised a battery system that could power the computer for long enough to get through an event, but when he heard we had a working generator, he said, and I paraphrase, "Shucks, let's just use the generator."

-Dave
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I drive really slow cars... really slowly.
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Loren Williams
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If we have a good battery in the computer, and we top off the generator tank after every run group we will have no problems.
The gen will run for about 3 hours on a full tank, in Brooksville last Sunday the tank was close to topped off at the gas station, but tank wasn't completely full, but and it ran for over 2 hours.
I know a lot of people don't tlike this idea, but it can be refueled while running. I did it for years on jobsites when I worked construction, as long as you're carefull it's no problem. With the gen we have, the gas tank is on the opposite side of the electrical outlets.
A bigger fuel tank might not work, I forgot the carb is mounted to the top of the tank and the pick up runs down the middle of the tank. I'll see if they make a bigger one, but that gen is pretty old, so one might not be found.
I never thought a generator could be such a problem.
The gen will run for about 3 hours on a full tank, in Brooksville last Sunday the tank was close to topped off at the gas station, but tank wasn't completely full, but and it ran for over 2 hours.
I know a lot of people don't tlike this idea, but it can be refueled while running. I did it for years on jobsites when I worked construction, as long as you're carefull it's no problem. With the gen we have, the gas tank is on the opposite side of the electrical outlets.
A bigger fuel tank might not work, I forgot the carb is mounted to the top of the tank and the pick up runs down the middle of the tank. I'll see if they make a bigger one, but that gen is pretty old, so one might not be found.
I never thought a generator could be such a problem.

Brian K
1991 Nissan 240SX Class: "I HAVE NO"
"Is it weird in here, or is it just me?" - Stephen Wright
1991 Nissan 240SX Class: "I HAVE NO"
"Is it weird in here, or is it just me?" - Stephen Wright
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