[HAM] Generators and hammonds - a resolve?

[Michael Downes]

The Hammond already has a motor in it. Since it spins at a constant rate, perhaps you could connect the shaft to a dynamo. Since the dynamo would always be turned at a constant speed, it would always supply the same rate of electricity. Hence a Hammond with a dynamo would always be self-sufficient, and never need to be plugged in. 

Karl Frick <karlfrick at comcast.net> wrote:  >Wow... thats really thinking outside the box... I'm going to have to 
>try that just to see if it really works... i have an old calibration 
>ocillator that puts out a pure sine wave and can dial from 20Hz to 
>20kHz.. (i used to use it to generate test tones for tape)...
>
>What kind of wattage amplifier would you need to get the speaker 
>terminal outputs up to 120v though?
>(I'm tempted to go run home and break out the multimeter and start 
>measuring my power amps... )


We used the oscillator/power-amp method with smaller synchronous motors,
using an old Bogen Challenger PA head! We had to vary the oscillator freq.
To provide a test RPM on the motors. The trick is how much current the power
amp can produce.

Here's a tip:

Only the HAMMOND RUN MOTOR must be powered up with the fixed-frequency
device. The preamp, and the entire leslie, doesn't care a fig about line
frequency. This greatly reduces the current requirements for the
fixed-frequency supply.



I have found that Frequency variation with generator are the RULE rather
than the exception. I once played a huge July4th festival, opening for the
band America. Huge truck-mounted generator running all the sound and lights.
Got the Hammond all sound-checked, and we're gonna sound check the
band...sure enough, the organ was flat! Resolution? A long-assed extension
cord going to a street lamp, where they opened the base and got "city power"
just for the Hammond!


One other time, I was playing on a paddleboat. The generator made the
hammond almost exactly a half-step flat, so I had to play all the songs in
the next key up! But every now and then, the ship's lights would get a bit
brighter, and the Hammond would snap to concert pitch, so I had to stop
transposing in the middle of the song. This concert-pitch would only last
about 15 seconds, then I'd have to start transposing again. To make matters
worse (if they could be), there was a pedal-steel player on the gig!


-karl









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