Wondering what people are using for power out there?  Clearly an extension cord is the way to go, but what if you are too far from power?  Anyone use a battery pack to run your expensive PAs?  I was looking at a Duracell 600HD for my occasional needs.  http://www.amazon.com/Duracell-DPP-600HD-Powerpack-Starter-Emergency/dp/B000TKHMWK

Some have sworn by them to me, others have said no way.  I want to run a Bose Compact tower for a couple of hours ideally. 
thoughts?

I wish I understood all of the reasoning, but I do know that with Pro Audio applications you want a Pure Sine Wave inverter.  For that price, I can't imagine that this one is.  Might at least be something to look in to.

There's no way that tat Duracell device is a pure sine wave inverter. It will be a PWM (pulse width modulation) device. The degree of modulation effects how much hum you will get in your audio. The cheaper the inverter, the more hum there is.

Generators generate sine waves, right?

I was looking at this too [url=http://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-802-1500-XPower-Portable-Powerpack/dp/B00005RHQQ]http://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-802-1500-XPower-Portable-Powerpack/dp/B00005RHQQ[/url]
I swear I've seen this in some band rooms over the years....

Pricey, and like everything of this nature apparently, very mixed reviews.  That Honda generator is starting to look better and better.  Too bad it's out of my price range, as is this one really.....

Yah, the Honda EU3000 is great. I've used ours for the last 5 years and never had a problem with it.  Never had a judge comment about hearing it and never had problems with power. 

OK, so now our band is looking at getting a generator. I know that batteries don't make noise, but we almost always have real power for shows. So the generator is mainly for keeping things working during rehearsals.

The Honda EU3000 is apparently well-recommended.  However, it is apparently also discontinued. Rated at 59 dB(A) full load, FYI (although no one ever states at what distance this sound level is measured...). Regardless, I'm not looking for 3000W of power - more like 750W.

My band director pointed this out: http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/products/modelhome/442/0/home.aspx
It seems to be engineered (at least somewhat) for quiet. It retails for about $850.

There's also the Honda EU1000i, which is smaller and less expensive.

Any other good options?

The problem is rarely whether or not the show site provides power. The need for a generator arises when you want to avoid a ";boot load error";.
From the lot to the gate, ";gremlins"; always run amuck and cause mysterious problems that end up still being banged out when you here the ever stress enduring ";is your unit ready?";

";...why as a matter of fact, no. No sir, we sure aren't.";
Yikes.

[quote author=Joe link=topic=4378.msg23216#msg23216 date=1342723676]

The Honda EU3000 is apparently well-recommended.  However, it is apparently also discontinued. Rated at 59 dB(A) full load, FYI (although no one ever states at what distance this sound level is measured...). Regardless, I'm not looking for 3000W of power - more like 750W.

My band director pointed this out: http://www.yamaha-motor.com/outdoor/products/modelhome/442/0/home.aspx
It seems to be engineered (at least somewhat) for quiet. It retails for about $850.

There's also the Honda EU1000i, which is smaller and less expensive.

Any other good options?
[/quote]

I've heard that the Yamaha's  are supposedly better in the long run (meaning they are supposed to last longer with fewer problems)  This coming from a rep I talked too.  not biased right?

I think you generally measure DBSPL at 1 ft.  59 is insanely quiet, which is why I still want one!  I did, however end up buying this little (and cheap) unit. 
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-Portable-Power-Unit/13005734
I'm using it to run a Bose Compact L1 system.  Ran it for nearly 4 hours the other night at a semi loud volume (the volume I had to play).  I only had the Bose running into it with everything else to the wall outlet.  I was VERY impressed.  This does exactly what i need it to do.  Now I might still need a generator to run my bigger Bose L1 Classic, but for 99% of what I do, having this in the car at a gig will really be handy.  Power went out??  No problem.  it's happened a few times and that's ruined the gig.  I do plan on buying a MUCH cheaper and MUCH more powerful unit for my home emergency use.  These hellish storms are only going to continue I'm afraid.

[quote author=sonordrum link=topic=4378.msg23226#msg23226 date=1342975132]
I think you generally measure DBSPL at 1 ft.[/quote]
It can be measured at any distance. The problem arises when that distance isn't standardized or published.

1 foot is generally a poor distance at which to document the sound pressure level of a noise source. You want to measure at a ";projectable"; distance (a distance at which the sound level of X dB measured at Y feet can be projected to a different distance Z feet). Doing so requires measuring the sound source where it is acting as a ";point source,"; which means measuring at least one, preferably multiple ";source distances"; away from the sound source. For something small like a 2'x2' generator, a responsible acoustical consultant (I'm one of those) wouldn't measure this type of device any closer than 10 feet (unless there was a real need to know how loud it is in-close).