so im putting together a go-kit style setup for a county ARES exercise this weekend and ive done this before but never with a generator as the primary power source. usually im just running off a big AGM battery and calling it good but the exercise is supposed to run like 18 hours and i dont think my 100ah battery is gonna cut it especially with the IC-7300 and a small laptop running.

anyway i picked up a Honda EU2200i a few weeks ago for exactly this kind of thing and i know everyone says honda is the way to go for noise. ran it briefly in the driveway and it seemed fine on HF but i was only on for maybe 10 minutes. my real question is about grounding it in the field. i know you're supposed to ground the frame but in a parking lot or whatever surface, whats actually practical? driving a ground rod every time feels like overkill but maybe it isnt.

also running a Chameleon MPAS Lite as my antenna - vertical with the 25ft mast section and a handful of radials on the ground. worked okay at the last exercise but i feel like i was leaving signal on the table. anyone running something similar for EMCOMM stuff?

the EU2200i is solid, good choice. on the grounding thing - for most field exercises i honestly just bond the generator frame to my station ground with a short piece of wire and call it done. if youre on pavement and cant drive a rod, a ground mat or even just a few radials laid out flat help more than nothing. the real noise issue with inverter generators usually isnt the frame ground anyway, its whether your power cable is picking up interference from the inverter section. i run mine with a decent quality power strip that has a filter built in and ive had zero issues on 40 or 80.

the MPAS Lite is a decent antenna for what it is. if youre feeling like youre leaving gain somewhere, check your radials - more is better obviously but also make sure theyre actually laying flat and spread out, not bunched up. ive seen guys put out 4 radials and wonder why they're not hearing stuff. 8-12 makes a noticeable difference in my experience especially on 40m.

18 hours on a 7300 plus a laptop off one 100ah battery would be rough yeah, especially if youre transmitting any decent amount. the generator plan makes sense. i ran a similar setup at a public service event last summer, different generator but same idea, and the thing that got me was fuel. the EU2200i at like 25% load sips fuel but 18 hours is still 18 hours and i didnt bring enough the first time. bring more than you think you need.

also worth mentioning - if theres other operators nearby with gear running off the same grid or generator leg, coordintae a little on frequencies before you start. had a situation where two stations were on the same generator circuit and were intermodulating all over each other because nobody talked about it beforehand. not saying thats gonna happen just something to think about.