To generate or not to generate!

G'day Chris. Unfortunately we hear this all too often. There is that DILLIGAT element in our society, who only think about themselves.
I would have "shortened"....LOL, their leads, without waiting for seven nights to pass, if they hadn't responded to a polite request to consider other campers.

Fred.

Yes this has been discussed many times before. The general consensus here is that some people who take a generator camping, are the type of people who have very little consideration for others.
Even when they are ran at " considerate " times, they are still a background noise and bl...y annoying.
Leave your generators and particularly all the stuff you are running/charging at home and enjoy the peace and tranquility of your preferred camping location.
The Cooper Creek King

When we were on the road for 2 years we came across this issue a lot. Sometimes it was loud music & other times generators that would cause offensive noise. I expect some noise in a caravan park but when in a NP or wilderness area it is unacceptable as far as our family is concerned.

Some people we approached were very accommodating & would reduce their noise output when asked. Others were very rude. After a few months dealing with these rude inconsiderate people my wife, kids & I said enough was enough so it was all on for some payback. I won't tell you some of the means we resorted to in order shut these people up or seek revenge.

Actually I will tell you one. Get yourself a real load whistle & go into the offenders camp at 5.00am & go for your life. This works a treat for the late party goers who will all have a hangover at this time of the morning.

After a while you sometimes just have to resort to desparate measures!
Cheers
Stu

Another way to look at the situation Chris. You & the other family chose to stay at a large campground that going by the guides is "Ideal for campervans, motorhomes and caravans" where "Generators are permitted in designated areas area only". I suppose they chose to camp in that area with their genny as it is allowed, be it a Wilderness or not. There are of course plenty of other sites in Tassie where genny's are not allowed & these may have better suited the other familiy if they didn't want the noise.
While it was certainly selfish to move the genny away from his caravan towards the families camp, it could have been resolved simply by asking him to move it back to his site & if he wasn't comfortable then a word to the Ranger no doubt could have fixed the problem on the 1st day.
I prefer to avoid gennys where possible so choose sites where they are less likely to be. We camped 40 KM south of Arthur river & didn't see another car let along a generator for 3 days :-)
Cheers Craig.............

We chose to camp in an area in Tasmania where generators were permitted, and knew we had to put up with them; our choice. Our immediate neighbour had quite a noisy one to run a 240 v only fridge, but he was a nice neighbour and very considerate about the times he ran it. At the far end of the camp was a most unpopular caravanner with Tasmania plates and a huge caravan. It was signed as a three day only free camp. According to others he had been there for weeks and seemed to go of to work each day. He ran a large and noisy genny very early in the morning and after his return late into the night. People at the end were really angry.

In other camp grounds eg national parks where generators were permitted it set areas, and in most, everyone had Hondas and kept to the sociable hours. They were barely audible once inside the caravan. We actually chose the genny area in some camps even though we weren't needing to run one, and got a quieter night than those in the more crowded so called quiet camping area. At one camp in Kakadu, there was a cheaper type some distance away and the noise was more of an annoying rhythm than loud from where we were. The Hondas just purr.

Most of the time, we try and camp out in the bush completely on our own and away from traffic noise.

Motherhen

If generators are allowed where you are camping... then expect generators. If you get none, bonus.

People with generators should have them in their camp site though, not try to put them as far away from them as possible but closer to others. Maybe there should be a 3 meter lead length limit?? as well as a decibel limit (usually 65db around here)

Although much more hassle sometimes, we always tent camp, and go to "no generators allowed" national parks and setup in areas that are unsuitable for caravans or camper trailers. Without the extra space for storage that trailers provide, Tv's microwaves and so on are basically non existent.

Our choice. Works for us. But it does limit where we can stay. If we choose to stay where gennies are allowed, and we can hear generator noise... so be it.

D

I enjoyed all your thoughts and had a suspician that this would cause discussion.
I do wonder if the family could have done a bit of negotiating but I think they were a bit intimidated by the thought of taking on a larger group. Does anyone know if there are restrictions on times for use in these areas?
Cheers, Chris.

Whenever we go Bush Camping we look for a spot where no one is currently camped ten we put a sign against the side of our c.van to warn new arrivals that we intend to run a generator till 9pm. Never had a complaint or problem. Cheers

Hi, I agree with the general thrust of the discussion. I have noticed of the past few years that most of the offensive noise comes from either the cheap low end of the market and or units witch are operating close to their rated output. A 1000w rated genny operating a toaster will be working hard and be quite noisy. Whereas a 2000w rated unit would be relatively quiet, all other things being equal. It is also evident that some people do not understand the nominal rating, which could be operated at 100% of the time, and the Peak rating which can only be used for a very short time. The Honda 20ie for example has a nominal rating of 1600w and at this load they are not quiet; very much louder when operating at the peak rating. Non-inverter genny usually operate at 3000rpm (for a 2 pole machine) regardless of the load and are therefore generally louder than inverter units in which engine speed is a function load and not frequency. My advice is to purchase an inverter generator which has a rated capacity much higher than your anticipated load. The bigger the better.

Cheers

Racey

Never ceases to amaze me............the number of people who "want to get away from it all" and then camp with 100+ other people and winge about the noise...............lol

Pop

I run a generator Honda 2.0 on rare occasions but only in the afternoon 2 till 6 and don't think I have annoyed anyone However the amount of times campers have set up right next to us and lit a camp fire with wet wood and smoked us out then progresed to talk loudly with drinks till late at night these I find are usually the people who complain the most I however just put it down to different things for different people and if we cant get along with each other without threatening to vandalise peoples leads or equipment then we may as well stay home The most enjoyable trips being when meeting and enjoying each others company rather than complaining about the negatives look at the positives
Steve

As a matter of economics, because I can't afford anything else, I have a "noisy" 2 stroke genset which I use to power a couple of lights in the caravan when absolutely necessary but no all night or every night either.

I am well aware of some peoples total aversion to gensets and while I respect their ideals, I don't share them.
If it is legal and I need to use the genset, I take all the possible precautions I can to keep it as quiet as possible and minimise any annoyance I may create.

This all becomes totally unnecessary when a couple of sites away some dropkicks are screaming around the local area on unlicensed 2 stroke trail bikes, often ridden in T shirt, Shorts and thongs (jandals to all the kiwi's), No helmet and a can of something other than coke in one hand.

They should be banned before anyone starts in on gensets.

Disco.