How to choose your generator?
You want tobuy a portable generator for your UAV operations. Here's what you need to know BEFORE makingyour choice... Here we're going to discuss a portable generator, not a standby generator for a fixed installation,which we'd use for a house.
Type of portable generator. (Inverter or not?)The difference is enormous!
What is a conventional generator? Without going into all the technical details, it's a generator (what produces the electricity) that must be turned by a gasoline engine at a speed of 1800 or3600 revolutions/minute to produce 60Hz alternating current. The engine speed must not fluctuate. So, even if the appliances connected don't consume much power, the motor will still have to run at a speed of 3600rpm. Motor speed is directly controlled by the output frequency, which in North America is 60Hz.
The big problem is that they consume a HUGE amount of gasoline, are very noisy and the quality of the output sine wave is not very good... On the other hand, they are very powerful!!!! The use of a conventional generator should be limited only to applications where the power demanded is to power tools, compressors, heating, etc. Power tools that require a lot of power. It is NOT recommended to use a conventional generator with electronic equipment, precisely because the quality of the electrical wave produced is not as good as what could be provided by the electrical grid, for example.
Inverter technology?
What is a ninverter? Simply put, it's a motor that turns the equivalent of a car alternator to produce direct current (DC). So it becomes the equivalent of a battery, for example. From this DC current, a DC-to-AC converter can be used to generate 120V. The "INVERTER" part is an electronic circuit controlled by a microprocessor.
The significant advantage is that the motor doesn't always have to run at 3600 RPM, for example. Motor speed is directly controlled by power consumption. The higher the power consumption, the faster it must run. It's much quieter, uses much less fuel(REALLY LESS!!!) and the quality of the output wave is comparable to that of the electrical grid. So it's much safer for the electronic equipment that will be powered...
