RadioBanter - View Single Post - how can we get 110V and 220V in our homes in Saudi Arabia

September 13th 05, 10:56 AM

In article .com,
wrote:

I want to ask how can we get 110V and 220V in our homes in Saudi Arabia

Or in other words
what is the wires that inters our home ????
I heared in this group about 120 and 0 and -120 and, but these are DC
and we get AC in our home and according to my knolage in AC we dont
have negative or positive because this is an altranating current .

In the U.S. the power system is 120 volts 60Hz. To improve efficency most
homes are powered by transformers that have a 240 volt output with a
grounded center tap. So two wires come into the house with 240 volts
across them, while the outlets are wired with one side connected to a
"hot" wire and the other connected to ground at a central location.

Some applicances such as ovens, clothes dryers, large air conditioners,
heaters, etc are wired across both wires and run on 240 volts.

In Saudi Arabia things are different. The power coming in used the
European standard of 220 volts 50 Hz. Most countries are migrating to a
230 volt standard that the E.U. is using (a compromise between England's
240 volts and Europe's 220 volts).

What I don't know is if Saudi Arabia uses the traditional two hot wires
with no reference to ground, or it uses one hot and one neutral (central
ground) like other places.

Most likely, if you want 120 volts 50Hz, you can buy a transformer. There
are two kinds, an autotransformer (one winding with a center tap) that
has poor regulation, but is much cheaper and a true transformer that
has two windings. For electronic equipment, a true transformer is better.

If you want to run a refrigerator, a transformer with a 100 volt output
is better because the motor is less efficent with the 50Hz current and
the lower voltage prevents it from stressing itself.

Note that the are some rare devices (mostly made before 1990) that are
sensative to the frequency of the incoming electricity. These are
things like clocks, hifi equipment,VCRs etc. They will not function properly
with a transformer.

Note that TV systems are different and you will not be able to use a
120 volt (U.S.) TV set no matter what you do to watch local TV. There
are "multisystem" TV sets and VCRs, but they are all dual voltage,
check for a switch.

DVD's are a different story.

Since this is a ham radio group after all, if you are asking about
ham radio equipment you would, IMHO, be best off buying equipment that
runs on 13.8 volts (also known as 12 volts) and getting a proper power
supply locally.

Geoff.

--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (077)-424-1667 IL Fax: 972-2-648-1443 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Support the growing boycott of Google by radio users and hobbyists.
It's starting to work, Yahoo has surpassed Google.