so ive been putting together a go-kit style setup for a local ARES exercise this weekend and im running into the usual power headache. we're going to be out in a field site, no shore power, probably 6-8 hours of sustained operation. i've got my IC-7300 and a separate VHF/UHF rig running simultaneously which is kind of the whole point of the exercise but the power draw is making me rethink some stuff.

right now my plan was to run a small honda eu2200i and charge a pair of 100ah lifepo4 batteries in parallel while also running the rigs directly off the genny through a power supply. problem is ive heard mixed things about running the 7300 off a switching supply that's being fed by a generator - something about noise getting into the receiver. has anyone actually done this or am i overthinking it. the alternative is just run off battery and let the genny top them off between ops but then im babysitting battery voltage all day.

also antenna situation - thinking a vertical for HF, probably my wolf river coils setup on a push up mast, and a jpole for the vhf side up on a separate mast. the site is kind of open so takeoff angle shouldnt be a big issue. any reason not to do this or is there a better way to handle dual band portable without hauling too much

the noise thing is real but honestly the eu2200i is about as clean as a generator gets and ive run my 7300 off a switching supply fed by one with no issues worth complaining about. what matters more is what power supply youre using - some of the cheap ones are absolutely awful on the HF bands, like S7-S9 noise floor garbage. if youre using something like an astron or a samlex that helps a lot. i'd still put a ferrite on the dc lines just to be safe.

your battery plan sounds fine but yeah youre going to be watching voltages. honestly for an 8 hour exercise with those battery banks you might just leave the genny charging and not sweat it, just check things once an hour. the wolf river on a push up mast works decent in the clear but dont expect it to compete with a dipole if you need to work any real distance on HF - for local or regional nets it should be more than fine though depending on your freqs.

we did something similar at a county exercise last fall, two rigs running off one genny through a battery buffer setup basically what you described. the main thing that bit us was the mast situation - we had two masts pretty close together and the jpole was picking up all kinds of garbage from the HF vertical whenever we transmitted. ended up moving them like 30 feet apart and that solved most of it. just something to think about with your antenna layout if the site allows it.

also make sure your genny is actually rated for the startup surge of both the power supply and anything else you have plugged in, the eu2200i is 2200w peak but sustained is lower and if youre running a battery charger plus the supply it adds up faster than you think. probably fine but worth checking your numbers before you get out there