I agree, Uli.

When Black Forest bought a small block Chevy winch from the Air Force
Academy.Â* I and a couple of others removed the engine and installed a
big block Chevy (454 cu. in.).Â* It was pretty healthy!

On 9/2/2018 3:32 PM, AS wrote:
On Sunday, September 2, 2018 at 11:15:43 AM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
Didn't the German winch require being hooked up to the electrical grid?
It seems the one currently under discussion would be self contained and
portable (on the back of a truck).

Dan, 5J
Hi Dan,

the Elektostart winch in Germany has 50 starter batteries on board which supplied the bulk of the current during the launch. Since the electric infrastructure is so much more densely developed in Europe, it is never too far to the next power tie-in. A relatively low Amp connection is all that's needed to recharge the batteries between launches. Some clubs operating this winch trenched a cable to either end of their field and just plug it in.
The early Elektrostart winches had some issues with the software for the controller, which - if I remember correctly - was an industrial VFD. There were some instances reported where the controller couldn't cope with line tension oscillations but that is all worked out now.
As much as I like the winch I built for my club - powered by one kick-a$$ Ford 460 BB - electric drive is the way of the future!

Uli
'AS'

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Dan, 5J