Conference napalm::commusic_v1

    
    Hasn't each of those reputable pieces of gear got a voltage
    selector switch on the back? Or do they only put those switches
    on European models, because they reckon we'll all move to the
    States sooner or later anyway?
    
    Richard

    1. The plugs are different	(all affected)
    2. The voltage is different (all affected if no switch)
    3. The frequency is 50 Hz.  (some motors(read:tape), other?)

    But you knew that. Since these days current demands are
    fairly modest from equipment, It may be possible to get
    a converter 220/50hz to 120/60hz with enough balz to run
    your entire setup. Thats what Id explore first.
    
    Ahhhh, but customs! Who knows.

    Stay home.
        

    
    	Customs hassles should be f(x); where x is the country you go to.
    If its all packed up as you personal goods and household effects
    (pun) they probably won't even know about it.  If you are thinking
    of taking a tour of duty with dec for a year or n, worry about other
    things too.  Send me mail if you want to talk about this, most of
    the stuff doesn't relate to commusic.
    
    	Reg
    

Of course, as a last resort you may want to leave it behind.  I'll volunteer
to haul it all away for you at no charge of course :).

Todd.

Lower frequency can overheat a power transformer that is not
designed for it.  Voltage-change devices are easily available,
but frequency-changers are not.

    
    How about using a VERY long power cable?

    come on be serious_semi_or_so...
    
    Gee if I disagree with the "frequency change devices
    are hard to come by" (paraphrase), is the burden of
    proof now on me? 
    
    Do some research. The saving grace is "not_too_many_amps".

    Ron_who_will_find_a_good_inexpensive_one_for_you_for_a_price    

    
    A basic voltage/frequency converter is just two electric motors
    with their shafts welded together. The driving motor is for the
    source voltage, in your case 110V 50Hz. The driven motor generates
    110V 60Hz. Granted, it's not very efficient but it can be cheaper
    than electronic means.
    
    CdH
    

    re .8	Yup, and if you decide to go the motor generator route
    then get the 110V 60 Hz half here and the 230V 50 Hz half there.
    Mount them on a 3/4 inch plywood base and put one of those neat
    little rubber couplings between them, they're good for a couple of
    horse-power which is more than most cycli...(whoops, wrong conference),
    more than most home studios need. 

    	Reg
    
    

    
    Gee, guys, such innovative 20th century creative
    engineering solutions.
    
    Thats what makes DEC great.
    
    We 'have it now'.

    I cant wait to see what we have next...
    
    a_critic
    
    

    
    The motor-generator solution is cheap, maybe $200 max, and easy
    to implement.
    
    What's your solution?
    
    A critic's critic   8^) 8^)
    
    CdH
    

    I cant believe someone doesnt make an electronic
    convertor for reasonable $$$. 
    
    We arent talking giga-watts here.
    
    motor-generators are noisey (acoustically, magnetically and
    electrically)
    
    At worst you could get a 12v. to 120 60hz inverter (try
    solar or farm supply catalogs) and use whatever source
    of 12v. is applicable over there.
    

    
    Has anyone seen a 220/50Hz to 120/60Hz power converter that can
    put out real wattage? All I've seen so far are 220/60Hz to 120/60Hz.
    
    The 12V route would seem to be ok, a quick glance into the Newark
    catalog shows a Tripplite 250 watt frequency controlled unit for
    $189, 500 watt for $299. Plus battery(ies). Still not cheap.
    
    CdH
    

Many inverter-type converters put out really ugly waveforms, sometimes
nowehere close to a sine wave.  The power supply filters in your
whatsit are probably designed for sine waves.  Expect hum, wrong
voltage, etc.  (The wrong voltage out of the power supply can be
caused by the input not being sinusoidal.  The Root-mean-square
ends up in the wrong place.)

For clean power at reasonable wattage levels, you can't beat a
motor-generator.  They are also quite efficient - in excess of 95% if
I remember right from my motors course long ago.

    
    	What's going on here?  Isn't there a nice simple solution?
    
    	Something I can plug into the wall, and then run fused
    multi-outlets from that?
    					- Karl

    
    I dunno, Karl, I've been looking but didn't find anything that's
    simple, cheap, and easy to get other than the motor-generator. Ron
    hasn't either 8^).
    
    CdH
    

    
    Comon! I gave you the vector to some catalogs!
    
    Karl, your turn to service the interrupt.
    
    Where *do* you get a 'motor-generator', CdH?
    
    Karl, how many watts (or amps) are we talking
    here for all your gear?
    
    rr
    
    

    
    
    I've moved in both directions and adapted various gizmos from 220v50hz
    to/from 120v60hz.
    
    As many have said, it all depends on what you are dealing with.
    A lot of toys (stereo, music implements, etc.) can be adapted by looking
    "in the box". Even my Polaris, if you look inside has a deeply buried
    switch to take care of European operation. 
    
    A lot of electrical type gizmos one buys in Europe have such switches
    available "on the back". (Seems there is some US restriction about
    doing this for retail goods?)
    
    Failing the presence of switches/jumpers/etc., usually a call to
    the manufacturer results in the "country" or "internationalization
    kit". This can be anything from the missing switch, to a collection
    of transformer/line-filter/motor/breaker (as in the case of a
    winchester disc drive I once lobotomized).
    
    Most tape recorders I have delt with did not sync their capstan
    motors to the line freq. Instead, they drove them from some sort
    of osc./amp arrangement with an adjustable frequency to set the
    tape speed up.
    
    For video, JVC make a 15" monitor which you just plug into the wall and
    plug a video signal into. It cleverly senses the incomming v/hz, sets
    the PSU up for it and then looks at the video signal. If it sees US
    NTSC it does the right thing. If its PAL III or the French SECAM, it
    does the right thing too. I was impressed. 
    
    When all else fails though, I use my trusty auto xfmr. This guy
    I bought for $12 in a surplus supply place. It can adapt
    240/230/220/210 down to 120/115/110, or the other way around. I'm
    no electronics genius, but this seems to work. It is rather heavy
    though, but on the other hand, unlike the usual "traveller's aids"
    can handle a load of 1.5 kw. (I currently run some European power
    tools with the thing.)
    
    I keep it on a little wooden platform with wheels ...
    
    Adapting voltages and hz can be done. Getting the right plugs and
    making sure the live, neutral and ground are all connected to the
    right places, well, that's another saga !
    
    Robert
    
    
    

    
    
    I should have mentioned one other trick with video. You obviously
    can't play US NTSC tapes on a Euro VCR. Even with the clever monitor
    this won't work for obvious reasons.
    
    There are two solutions to this:
    
    1.  Import a US VCR into Europe - this works because they don't
        seem to us the line hz to do anything much at all.
    
    2.  There is an outfit in London (UK) who make a very clever box.
        This box takes one type of video signal and converts it into
        another (ie. NTSC to PAL III or SECAM, or the other way if you
        prefer). It also converts 525 line/30 fpm to 625 line/25 fpm,
        or to whatever line/frame standard you might like. This is a
        non-trivial problem to solve, particularly if one wants to maintain
        picture quality and "trueness" of colour. Cost of the box last
        time I looked at this was around $4K. (If anyone is interested
        I can dig up the details - note that this was, at the time,
        substantially cheaper than the closest US box to do this - that
        may all have changed by now.)
    
    Robert
    
    

    
    Re: Ron
    
    Relax, man, I was just ribbing ya! Didn't you see the smiley face?
    
    Seriously, I like -1's idea, you might as well open the case/consult
    the manual/schematics to see if the PS is already capable of using
    these power requirements. Maybe all you have to do is flip a switch
    or rewire a terminal block.
    
    BTW, just like Reg sez, get the 120V 60Hz generator here, and the
    220V 50Hz motor overseas. Stateside, you can get a 120V 60Hz generator
    anywhere, i.e. W. D. Grainger Supply for new ones or tool dealers
    or even the WantAd for used ones. People have been using the motor-
    generator setup for years for this, also for phase conversion, like
    220V 3 phase to 120V single phase.
    
    Electronics aren't always the best solution. 8^) 8^)
    
    Chris  (CdH)
    
     

    
    	Well, I had hoped to keep most of this off line - BUT, since
    we're all at it again here goes.   There used to be an almost
    continuous stream of decies in transit between here and there, at
    one time you could just about pick up the full set of domestic appliances,
    car, voltage converters (friends of the opposite gender) and appartment
    from someone going the other way.  It just took a phone call to
    the local personel office to find out who was about to go in your
    opposite direction, you contacted them and arranged the long distance
    garage sale.  Dunno if this is still true, but a quick hit at
    classified_ads conference would be worth a try.  I have a very recent
    W W Granger catalogue available to anyone wishing to cobble up
    whatever.

    	Reg