so im finally doing a proper field activation this weekend, been planning this for about two months now and i think ive got most of it figured out but the power side is still giving me fits. running a IC-7300 and a small amp, not a big amp just the LDG and maybe 100w so nothing crazy, but i want to have reliable power for like 8-10 hours straight without having to baby sit the battery situation the whole time.

my current plan is a 30ah lifepo4 feeding the rig directly and then a small honda eu2200i as backup or to run a charger if things get low. the problem is placement. the site im using has decent tree cover which is great for my linked dipole but that also means i cant really get the generator far enough away from the operating position without running a really long extension cord. last time i tried something similar the rf got into everything and i had this horrible buzzing on 40m that i couldnt track down for like an hour.

anyone dealt with generator noise on hf in the field? im thinking maybe a ferrite clamp on the power cord going to the charger might help but i honestly dont know if thats enough. also curious what people use for antenna support out in the field, my linked dipole is on a 31ft spiderpole right now but im wondering if a different center height or a different feedline run would help with the ground situation at this site which is pretty rocky.

the rf from the generator thing is almost always coming through the power line, not radiated directly from the genset itself unless you're sitting right next to it. common mode choke on the feedline is your first fix, and yeah ferrites on the charger cable help too but you might need quite a few of them to actually make a dent. i use a home brew 1:1 choke balun right at the feedpoint on my dipole and that cleaned up probably 80% of my generator noise issues when i was running a similar setup.

on the extension cord length question, longer is actually better in your case, more impedance between the genset and your gear. i run about 50ft of 12awg out to my eu1000i and the noise floor is pretty manageable. the honda inverter gens are cleaner than a lot of the chinese units anyway so youre probably fine there. just keep the charger and generator side stuff on a separate circuit if you can, meaning dont run the charger off the same power strip as the rig.

ive had the same rocky ground problem with my spiderpole setup. what helped me was just adding a few radials thrown on the ground, even 3 or 4 of them made a noticeable difference on 40 and 80. doesnt have to be perfect, just get some wire out there. and for what its worth 31ft center is fine for a linked dipole, i wouldnt mess with that unless your haul lengths are way too short for the bands you want to work.