The AM Forum

OK.  Generator is topped off.
Porch furniture stowed.

Boat and cars in garage.

Antennas are at risk.

Otherwise ready.  Catch you when it's over.

Looks like She's going aound VT...  good....
Don't need a repeat of last year!
Still expecting power to be out for a couple days.
Still will be a "wind event".

But at least the forecast says only a couple inches of rain over 2 days.
With Irene, I got almost 8" in 12 hours.



Hope everyone stays safe, and fares well.

Cover up boys,  Good luck to you all..

Only very slight winds and very light rain (didn't start until 3-4 in the morning). I guess the worst is yet to come.

yep, all secured here too. Freezer packed with water bottles. Genset tested good yesterday. Inverter installed and working. Inverter batteries fully charged.  Should be able to run some stuff without the generator.

Headed into work before the bus line quits.

Visit me at the Hilton on West 33rd st.

You might not see much more Steve, though your part of the state sticks out into the predicted path moreso than we do until you get up to the Elizabeth City area. We're in the 1-3" rain band and haven't seen a drop yet.

Maybe when/if it turns into NJ/NY there will be more impact, so far here in NC an hour or so from the coast things are quiet with only the occasional gust of wind. 2500 people without power on the coast due to a downed limb. I see they've already downgraded the expected rainfall amounts but the media is still hyping it as a 'Superstorm'. Guess the 'Storm of the Century' mantra from Irene wore thin. One of these times they're bound to be right.

At least a lot of the foliage is gone north of CT. That should lessen the damage caused by falling trees or limbs.

The Weather Channel = The Weather Armageddon Channel

My wife wanted me to blow some leaves off the front lawn on Thursday. I told her that Mother Nature would do it for us!

Bill, W1AC

I've got two generators, two cans of gas, kerosene, lanterns, Naphtha, and extra soup.

I'm so well prepared, I'm hoping that the storm does hit hard, which (at least in my case) is a great argument for gun control.  ;)

Bill, W1AC

What is the Naptha for?

Bill

Hmmm....

Have 2 generators (one BIG generator (12.5kw, and one EFFICIENT (3.2kW inverter jobbie) generator, 20 gallons of gasoline, enough food for about a week, and of course several bottles of wine (that's the important stuff!)  ;)

But, according to the disaster preppers, I'm barely prepared for anything.

Oh well  8)

Some winds up to 70 MPH here along with lots of rain!  Generator all ready if we need it.  Monday and Tuesday worse days here.

This Afternoon Rain. High near 59. Breezy, with a northeast wind 14 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Tonight Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. Low around 49. Windy, with a north wind 23 to 31 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Monday Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. High near 52. Very windy, with a north wind 33 to 40 mph, with gusts as high as 60 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 1 and 2 inches possible.
Monday Night Rain. The rain could be heavy at times. Low around 47. Very windy, with a north wind 49 to 55 mph, with gusts as high as 70 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between 2 and 3 inches possible.

Tuesday Showers. High near 47. Very windy, with a south wind 47 to 50 mph, with gusts as high as 70 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Talking to the Tron on 40 metros right now. 

Joe, W3GMS

Not taking any chances..dropping the tilt-down tower with Mr Mosely..we're not supposed to be in Sandys path but then again..besides I get the chance to try out the balun for hopefully a less askew pattern off the front end..hope the rest of you will fare OK............and by the way Bill..yah I'm wondering too what the Naptha is for..??   73 de DAVE

naptha, for a good old fashion cigarette lighter

Another "Storm of the Century", like the ones we had a few years ago.

Took down all the antennas off the tower this morning in 3 1/2 hours. Even the wire antennas are now laying on the ground. Antennas on the roof are also off and secured at ground level. The tower was repaired several weeks ago so I wasn't going to take any chances. Beam antennas were scheduled to come down for maintenance and new coax anyway although I didn't expected to take them down all at the same time. The only functional antenna I have now is sitting on my HT.

(http://amfone.net/Amforum/gallery/25_08_10_07_11_23_07.JPG)
 

Still calm here. Supposedly the worst won't be until Monday into Tuesday with winds upwards of 35 MPH with gusts to 50. We'll see.

Lower my 10m antenna to the ground last night. Should have left it up through today. Missed some FB conditions on 10.

A lot of schools around here have already closed for tomorrow, some already called Tuesday off too. Even my college, Penn State Mont Alto, is closed for tomorrow. Which is good, since I don't really want to be making the hour drive to there in the rain.

Hope everyone gets through this with no damage and minimal inconvenience. I dropped the wire antenna to the ground and nested the tower. The generator is ready and I've got plenty of gasoline stockpiled and dozens of boxes of Cheerios so who could ask for anything more? It appears my area is going to experience a "wind event" so... we shall see!

Rob W1AEX

  Already have a roof leak in the shop. The wind has been out of an unusual direction for the whole day with steady rain. It must be blowing under the strom collar for the furnace exhaust stack. The leak didn't show until after dark so I won't know until tomorrow. Plastic now over the equipment in that corner.
  Going to try and patch/fix it tomorrow at lunch even if it is raining.

Bill KA8WTK

" Even the wire antennas are now laying on the ground. "

P,

Yew were a soLid S9 here  into C NY.

klc

Spent the weekend at my house at Edisto Beach.  Friday had some swells but went shrimping and had a good day. Caught 100 pounds or so.  Not much competition - most people stayed home.  Later Friday at high tide the swells came into the road and into main street.  

Was a little worse Saturday morning at high tide but not much. Had 25 mph winds all day and rain bands. Cleared off at dusk Saturday and that was about it.

To hear the news media reports we had an event - didn't happen!

Pat
N4LTA

Hams in N. Indiana near Lake Michigan:  Hurricane Sandy forecasted to produce northerly winds to 60 mph and 25 foot waves on the Lake beginning this afternoon and continuing Tuesday into Tuesday night before abating.

Good luck to all out there, especially those down in NJ and Delmarva area.    Not to bad here yet - steady in the 20s and gusting over 30.  Have the 17.5 KW ready to roll, tank full, 20 gallons  in reserve, 5 of which was brought over by my neighbor, who I send power to. Last year after Irene, we had 3 of my neighbors running their vital bus loads off us.  This year, one of them has his own 2.5KW...

...As I am typing this, just heard the  crew of HMS Bounty, which was here in New London last week, has abandoned ship off Cape Hatteras.  They left here on Thursday night, headed for St. Pete. FL.  I have been following their track on their web site http://www.tallshipbounty.org/index.php , and they have been heading into the storm ever since they left.  Was wondering what they were thinking....Say a prayer for them...

Just checked their web site to get the URL for this posting.  Apparently all hands are off the ship in survival suits in two lifeboats, ship is intact and still afloat 90 miles SE of Hatteras.  They had a power failure and lost all of their their bilge pumps.  CG ordered them to abandon ship, perhaps they can get some emergency pumps on board to save her.

Here we go...power just went away and came back after about a minute at 0830.

From what I just heard at least 2 of the Bounty's crew are missing.

Good luck to you all. May God bless you. Now stay low and batten down the hatches.

Mike

Supposed to snow over here on west side of W.Va. Alleghenies. Nothing yet, just some rain. Wind is supposed to start this afternoon.

Joe, GMS, heard you 20-over talking to Tron on 7295.  I'd gotten off air earlier talking to Glen, GPE,  in Altoona. He's expecting a lot of rain and wind.  Could barely hear Tron. I'm in his fringe area since moving farther west and south in '95.

Lost power at about 0930.  On generator power since 1000, have the genset under a lean-to tarp tent.  Helped  the neighbor with the new 2.5KW Honda rig a similar lean-to to run his generator.  Another neighbor said the probable cause of the momentary crap out at 0800 was an flash over of a pine tree branch down the road against a high line, he saw  a tree on fire there, and stopped to tell the owner, not sure if the current outage is related to this.  This is  about the 4th or 5th time in the last two years we have had outages due to simple flash overs, none were caused by downed trees or broken branches.  CL&P has to do a better job of keeping the lines clear.

Things outside still pretty quiet about 18 knots steady, with gusts to 35, light rain/mist. Local high tide around 0930 put water onto the streets near the Mystic shipyard south of the US 1 bridge downtown.

Pretty bummed about the 2 missing from Bounty , praying for them and the folks who are out there trying to find them.  Reports said they were taking on 2 feet of water per hour, and had 10 feet onboard when they abandoned ship. 

Sorry Rick we did not have a chance to work you.  Thanks for the FB signal report OM. 

Hope all is going ok....

73,
Joe, GMS

Latest news I heard about the Bounty is that it sank shortly after the Coast Guard picked up the crew.

ABC News report on Bounty at:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/crew-tall-ship-off-nc-abandons-ship-17587146?page=1

Bob - NE

Just had a slight uptick on the barometer at 3:30P

false alarm. it dropped 0.04.  Still have commercial power.

4:45PM update: barometer upticked 0.02 and has been steady at 28.94 for the last 40 or so minutes.

6:03PM update: Barometer definitely on the rise.

Good Luck to all of you folks in the path of Sandy,  and of her effects.

A local club member,  Doug - N6TQS was one of those rescued from the Bounty.

Here is a Video or some of the Rescue:

http://gcaptain.com/coast-guard-helicopter-crews-save/

It is often over-subscribed,  but interesting when finally available.

Personally, I gotta LOVE the Government  Responders!  Great Job in difficult conditions ... although two crew members  still appear to be missing.

Good Luck to all Stations,  Vic

 Semper Paratus
  
  "
 PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) - UPDATE: The Coast Guard says it has found one of the missing crew members of a tall ship that went down off the North Carolina coast, but she is unresponsive.

Lt. Mike Patterson said crews are taking 42-year-old Claudene Christian to the hospital. The Coast Guard is still searching for the captain of the HMS Bounty.

"

Hurrican pfarty on 3875.

KLC
klc

I lost power at 2 PM.  Went to bed and took a nap - got up at 4 PM, dragged out the 8 KW generator and restored power.  We got power back at 9 PM tonight.

Checked into the pfarty on 3875 while on emergency power running flea power.  After power was restored, checked back in at my usual 250 watt power level.  At one point my feed line broke free and whacked my window - I just about filled my shorts.  Went out and secured the line - had to do it twice.  Finally, I used some bungie cords wrapped around the tower.

Interesting - the bacon frying noise showed up on the band - the same noise I heard last year during hurricane Irene.  Wonder what causes that?

Al

Could be static discharge from the wind on the tips or ends of your antenna.

73DG

It's EMI from the weather control machine.

Thats HAARP firing up the weather wobbulator again.

Made it through the night.  Everyone here is fine. Power went out around 8:30pm, and ten minutes later this tree came down on my car.  Will deal with it after sunup. Generator's on, house and Radio Lodge are undamaged so far.  Worst seems to have passed, with light rain, light winds.

Just right for chain saw action.

Hope y'all are alright too --- especially the NY, NJ coastal areas.

Paul,

What a bummer!

If I had a puppy named Sandy, I'd kick it in the face.

Marty

P.S. Now you get to find out that those car parts that you thought were sheet metal and plastic are really gold with paint on them.

Whew! that was close.  No power loss despite 70% of the town being out. Did have 4 or 5 one second interruptions over several hours.  Not sure if it was power company trying to backfeed circuits to keep as many up or debris falling on wires.

A small limb hit the roof. need to inspect for damage.  Other than that, everything is still upright including the ants..

Paul, and all seriously affected, very sorry about your misfortune. 
Snowing over here now and clear into Ohio too. We won't get the two or more feet that's occurring up in the mountains, but enough to be crappy winter conditions. 
4 wh drive only, traffic lights out, most out of power in county east of us. 
Will plow this pm if nothing melts.  Big winds stopped this morning. Two hours power out but back on now here at house.  ..for now.

Natural gas appliances extremely reliable here; hot water, millivolt controlled stoves ( no add'l power needed to run), same for Lennox fireplace insert, etc. all keeping us toasty.  Big forced air furnace with blower is down, of course.

Lights other than LED flashlights?  Good old kerosene lamps. 
Qrp baby, but why bother?

Power never went out here except for a few momentary drops, probably branches shorting the lines to ground. But from what I understand, is there still more to come?

 After the evil Media said we could lose power for a week, I start getting questions (like I know watt). No, the propane heat need  lectricity to run, No, we don't have a chord of wood. No, you don't like coal. During the rush at the Homely Despot (I wanted to buy some fasteners), the wife asked a clerk if they had generators for sale. "No". "We sold out last Friday."

I had a lot of fun dropping the "well, I wanted to buy a generator but you didn't" for most of the day.

We will now be able to revisit 'generator and heat issues'. Now I will have value.

This post may destruct if she sees this.


klc


Sri  bout yer loss Paul. But, now it looks like you can get a newer car. Maybee one of them 'lectrical cars.

500 miles away we have sustained winds of 35mph and gusts to 60+!
I lost power last night at 9:30PM and fired up the backup. Power back on this morning at 10AM but center of the storm ain't here yet!!

160 and 75M antennas are pieces parts.
A couple trees down and winds are still 35+!

E,

BUY????  Gack! she's got the money, I've got the Bills.. (sorry Buddley).

We got ' nuthin here in C NY. Little rain, and there was a frog in my window well, but that's it.

I'm suprised at the lack of activity last night on 80, and today on 40. There is no NO Traffic Emergency Net on 7290.

On a serious note, I hope every one is OK.

klc

They're in there, just can hear'em.
Talked with KE3SX and KD8SFT @ 1/2hr ago.
Need food then out to chainsaw some tree!

Been on generator power since 1000 yesterday, lost COMCAST internet,cable TV, and digital landline about 2 hours later.  Carrying loads in our house and also sending 3 neighbors power to keep at least their fridges, freezers, and a few other small loads up.  Sure helps to have them share in the gas costs, the Generac 17.5 KW is a pretty thirsty beast.  96% of the town is without commercial power.

Minimal damage at our house in Stonington, just a lot of fairly big branches down from the trees. Thankfully, all the really big oaks stayed up.  One at our cottage in Charlestown, RI came down and made a real mess.  Lots of trees down all over.  Misquamicut Beach reported a gust of 86 MPH around 4 PM yesterday.  Am more of a believer than ever of the Windfinder.com wind forecasts, they hit the nail pretty much right on the head with the local area timing and wind strength much more precise than the NWS ones, which appear to cover wider regions.

Best local news and info about storm conditions and after affects on our little hometown AM station WBLQ 1230 Westerly, run by a guy named Chris Dipaola, who is a true believer in local news, talk, and sports content radio. Not a ham, but a true professional AMer.  When he lost his downtown studio link to the transmitter down by the Pawcatuck River, he shifted ops to the transmitter building, using a local mixer and mike.  You could hear his emergency generator roaring in the background there last night as he broadcast calls with local emergency management officials and residents calling in problem spots to his cell phone, acoustic coupled from the cell phone speaker.  During the worst of the storm surge, the bottom of the tower was under water, apparently didn't hurt things.  As of Wednesday morning, their internet live stream is back at WBLQ.net.

Sending this in from a Westerly RI Dunkin Donuts WiFi hotspot, a very popular place today.  Guess its time to get a SMAATPhone, as they say here in RI....'

Enjoyed a nice QSO with Nicky Badwires, Richaroni and a few others at the height of the storm from home at the height of the storm on genny power yesterday afternoon on 3885.  My slacked off inverted vee got caught up in branches that normally never come near it, but is stiil up.

GFZ, how did you do down at the beach QTH in Niantic?  Heard it was pretty nasty over there.

Very sad that there was a loss of life in the Bounty sinking, they are are still looking for the captain, and have not given up hope yet.  Kind of spooky that the last name of the crew member that was lost was Christian.  

I have to say one more thing.  Last month, I had my tree person come through and remove (on his discretion) some trees / branches.  I didn't have ONE mishap.  Hats off to that professional.  I highly recommend you all have one go through your property - particularly around your digs and antenna skyhooks and take stuff down for high winds.  Once the first visit is accomplished the expense is relatively lower.

Al

I second Al's opinion.  The two big oaks next to the house here would surely have been problems if we had not had them cleaned up professionally about two years ago.  We're going to have them taken down though, as they now have gotten way too big way too close to the house.  One of them was scheduled to be taken down last month, tree service lost their climber and had to reschedule.  Was on their list for today, and we were really worried about losing the tree during the storm.  Fortunately, it only lost some small branches. Now looks like its on the sked for next week.  A friend's neighbor near here had THREE trees come down on his place.  

One  up side of shelling out the bucks for this type of work is that you can get antenna halyards put up nice and high in your remaining trees while they are on site for very little added cost!

73 from Dunky's on the morning o-leen run...AJ1G

I have had many tall pine trees, got rid of about half of them years ago as they were too close to the house.  One thing that I have experienced is that in high winds, the whole tree usually doesn't come down if they are healthy.   They usually snap about half way to the top, and the top part falls straight down.   However, if the tree is dead or dying, the base rots and the whole thing breaks at the base.   The people in the tree trimming business call them "widow makers".

Yeup, the pine tree snapped at the base and wasn't looking too healthy before it came down on the car.

BUT, the power came on early Wednesday, and the sun was VISIBLE for the first sunrise since the storm went by.

Nice pictures Paul.. A real treat to see that some of the old NSS towers are still up!  What's the status of the NSS site, is it still active or has the Navy pulled out completely?

Bet I know where that Emerson inverter came from!

Good chatting on the wireless the other day OM.

73,
Joe, GMS

Ha I like you guys!

Paul,
Talked with my brother yesterday and he was telling me how he went outside to move a car from the driveway to the road. 30 minutes later a tree came down where the car was. Both he and the car were lucky.

I drove through Mercersburg, PA this morning and the one raod over there was closed with trucks working along it, lines down and the whole road was covered in tree branches. This afternoon I had my truck at the local mechanic's garage to get the oil and transmission fluid changed and we ended up working in the dark for about an hour because of the power there going out.

It's for Coleman mantle lanterns and camp stoves: what sells as "Coleman fuel" or "Stove fuel" in stores is usually a mixture of Naphtha and Aromatic Naphtha.

I just say "Naphtha", even though I buy the cheaper "Coleman" cans, since I hate the way salesmen try to disguise simple chemicals by using complex names.

Bill, who once paid $15.99 for ten pounds of Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate.

I take it that the XYL was the one asking the questions?


You lucky dog!

I was in a worse place: I had purchased a used 2KW unit in the summer of 2011, so I had to make do with it during the October storm last year, and endure the "Why won't it keep us warm just because the refrigerator is running?" questions. It only ran for about 80 minutes before I had to refuel it.

This year I got a 5KW B&S from Home Despot. It was a closeout that they wanted off their inventory, so it cost me $567 back in May. I hooked it up with a 220 plug, using the feeders from my pool shed. It worked like a champ, and the XYL could cook on the electric stove, and I didn't have to run extension cords or do anything different. She didn't even blink when I told her we should buy an auto-start model next spring!

73,

Bill, W1AC

You're right: I've got a swamp maple in back of my house that I really love, but if it comes down in a storm it will take half the house with it. It's time for it to go.

Bill, W1AC

Lost power 4:30 Tues AM, got it back 3:30PM, it was the utility workers that shut it down as the winds died down before I went to bed at midnight. Generator run long enough to cook and keep fridge happy, I puttered around outside raking up a million little branches on the large lawn area

No meaningful damage, a dozen or so small limbs, all dead anyway; no trees close to the house, took them down in 89 when I moved here. All antennas OK. Highest gust was 72 with many in the 60-70 range but not unexpected with the wide open hilltop where I can see the ocean from the 100' level on the towers; maybe 25 miles but Logan International's tower sticks way up.

Knew a couple of families in Breezy Point but havent been able to get any news. Same with family and friends out on LI. Last I heard Monday afternoon a friends street in Freeport down near the bay was already flooded, cant contact anyone.

When working in Chicago 70-73 I watched 18-20' waves blast over Lake Shore Drive a couple of times, at least its not salt water.

Watch out for salt water damaged cars coming on Craigslist and elsewhere.

You know, I was feeling a little bit of that on Monday night: my genset kept everything on, but I was wondering if I can ever be prepared for every situation.

I'll play Devil's Advocate, and ask what my options would be "if" ...

• Someone came by telling me that they were going to confiscate my generator 'For the hospital' or some other suspicious reason?
• The fire department said that I had too much gas around?
• The cops demanded to see an installation permit?
• A neighbor asked to hook up:
  
  • What if they wanted to use a suicide cord?
  • What if they assumed it would be free?
  • What if they threaten to sue me for loss of food, or whatever, because I refuse to share?
  • What if I DO share, and they tell me their TV/computer, etc., got fried and I have to buy them a new one?

Yeah, I know, but even paranoids have enemies.  ;)

Bill, W1AC

Is the Colman fuel which used to be called white gas still the same formulation or has that changed?  I still have a half gallon of the "white gas" for my Colman portable stove from years ago.

When I was a kid, we would buy gasoline from certain stations which sold a product that didn't contain lead, and use that for camp stoves. I don't know if it's still the same product, or if what we used to call "white gas" is still available.

Here's some more, from Wikipedia:

White gas is a common name for two flammable substances. In its most common modern usage, it is used as a generic name for camp stove and lantern fuel, usually naphtha.

White gasoline, also called white gas, can also be a name for pure gasoline, without additives. This was commonly used when leaded gasoline was the norm, to prevent fouling in situations where the properties of the tetraethyl lead additive were not required.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_gas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_gas)

73,

Bill, W1AC

dealt with some of that. #1 be armed because people get crazy and will steal and lie and are freaking out and are ready to do violence, when what they should do is go to the shelter if they have not prepared. Sheltering in place is real bad when one has not prepared anything beforehand, and if they come a-beggin' rather than a-barterin', that is likely their state.

    Someone came by telling me that they were going to confiscate my generator 'For the hospital' or some other suspicious reason?

what a lie! Yhey intend to steal, by lying or if that does not work, by force. A policeman told me that a man with a knife can cover 20 FT and stab me before I could un-holster a handgun and stop him with it. Dangerous situation with evil motives behind it, someone coming and starting that line of discussion. answer: "NO. Get off my property". be prepared to use any necessary tools to keep them from stealing. I don't know your state's laws, are you allowed to protect your property?

    The fire department said that I had too much gas around?

They probably won't. Don't let them see the gas. I don't know your laws. Do they have a right to start investigating things like that when there is no cause to suspect danger? If they ask real nice or insist or get pushy or use the police as a tool to threaten you, show them a little gas that you have for show, but not the main cache. It's good to keep fuel locked in a backyard shed separated from the house, not in the garage where it is a fumes/explosion danger or out where anyone can see it. None of it is anyone's business, hopefully you don't keep it inside..  Diesel is best, it doesn't go bad very quick and is harder to light by accident. I keep about 150 gallons and fill my old military truck from the drums, and refill the drum when it gets low. BTW 150 gallons is only about 4-5 days with the machine here. it's oversized and not efficient.

    The cops demanded to see an installation permit?

Is it installed, or merely being used with extension cords for your appliances and corded lights? Is that against the law where you live? If it is connected with an "extension cord", which in this case means a disconnect-able cable with plugs on it, then it should be OK. If you have connected it to your house wiring and do not have a disconnect between the mains and your wiring, then they will be upset because you could accidentally energize the mains and kill a line worker. They might not accept an opened main breaker as a 'disconnect'. usually they like a separate purpose made device.
 
In a different thing which is an example of extension cords vs illegal wiring, in the 1980's I worked part time at a 'rave' and helped them with the stage stuff. I had wired up several 450W strings of home made stage lights made of a coffee can and a ceramic socket with a 150w PAR lamp and a tin clamp to hold the gel, used romex to run the power, and built the controller by rackmounting five variacs and circuit breakers -all in a very low budget place befitting such hackery, and the fire marshal told me that the wire size and type was OK but the hookup was illegal without conduits and J-boxes and a bunch of other expensive stuff, etc. He told me that if I would put outlets on the control rack and plugs on the wires then it would be "extension cords" and he'd be satisfied. He came back the next night and eyeballed it, and left. the point is that you can get away with almost anything if it is extension cords and not "temporarily wired into permanent wiring" Maybe an electrician on this BBS can comment. I know nothing about the law (or your laws) except what was said by the fire marshal then.

    A neighbor asked to hook up:
        What if they wanted to use a suicide cord?

NO.

        What if they assumed it would be free?

 hahahaha.. er.. NO. They must bring fuel in advance to replace what they will use. Or pay in cash. Or just go away. Seems harsh but unless it's a big set like a 30-40KW, their load will matter significantly to the fuel usage. And if it is a 30-40K, then it's costing a gallon an hour to run anyway, so they should cough up some value for what they receive. It's OK to share, as long as they share the cost. Unless you have 1000 gallons of fuel and don't mind burning it all. They Assume .. ass-u-me makes an a55 out of u and me. If they don't pay, pull the plug. Power generation cost money and is not available in an emergency. If there is a real reason why they need power, and they truly can't pay for it, then do as your conscience says. But if they are that bad off, as in someone is sick and needs power, they best get to one of the shelter that has been set up for sick people with various needs. they always have them, but few people know about it.

        What if they threaten to sue me for loss of food, or whatever, because I refuse to share?

NO. Get off my property. Tell them to go to the red cross shelter. If they are that mean, then you don't need them skulking about.

        What if I DO share, and they tell me their TV/computer, etc., got fried and I have to buy them a new one?

They sign all their rights away in front of witnesses first so they agreed not to sue or even to complain, no matter what happens with the power they are using, make it all their fault. Ask them if they are going to pay you $3500 if your genset blows up. No you don't have to buy them squat. Why would you be responsible for their stuff? You are not the power company, can't be held to Quality of Service. That sounds like something some of my neighbors would try and pull. bunch o' hooks and thugs. They need to get off my property.

This is about the harshest thing I have ever written.. geez. Sorry to write something so hard but facts have to be faced when dealing with situations.

And if I was the neighbor coming to ask for power, and was told no/get out, if I could not barter for it or for a way to get water, then I'd go home and make a fire and cook the perishables, and me and the cats would have meat for a few days. I'd find a way to get us water. That's usually not too hard if you can find a cop or the national guard and have a container, they can get you some water.

I have a maple tree that grows over on to my property.  It had these "sucker branches" that looked like they could break off and crash on my antenna supports.  I had a crew come in last spring and take them all out.  I felt a bit guilty about it because they removed more of the tree than I wanted them to but the neighbors didn't seem to mind (it's their tree).  Anyway that guilt went away after the first few wind storms.   I could not do the work myself because of the height of the branches and location.   I look at the cost as antenna insurance.

A similar thing happened here. A huge rotten very old old tree with a couple of branches 1 FT in diameter was just inside the neighbor's property line but one of the branches was over my garage and I could tell the tree was really getting rotten. A crack started to develop and I called the property owner, the landlord as the neighbor was a rent house. I told them I'd split the $650 cost of removing the tree and they didn't want to pay anything on account of the crack wasn't going to drop the branch on their house. I called the tree service out and had the part overhanging my property cut off. I was charged $350. 8 months later during a fall storm the rest of the 60 FT tree, some 2 FT diameter at the base, fell onto their property destroying the fence and  lawnmower shack in their back yard. If it had fallen on their house it would have been like our friend's house in the other thread.They tried to blame me for it. I felt bad for them but it certainly wasn't my fault. They left it lying there for several months. heh rent house.. its the worst to live next to one. on the other hand you don't have to take any guff off the inhabitants.