question about 403s

[asheets]

I've been going back in the archives and reading up on the multiple problems Air 403s seem to have.  If I understand this correctly, the main problems seem to be (1) noisy blades, (2) a high cut-in speed (at high winds), (3) more noise at that speed, and (4) low output at low wind.

Now, this is just a "hypothetical", as I don't have one of these and don't have any plans for getting one... and I know that "gearing up" is generally a bad thing... but would it be reasonable for an experimenter with one of these to use a system of pullies to convert from a quiet, slow moving blade set that would start in low winds to to work with the high rpms needed by this thing?  Has anybody done it just for grins?

[Slingshot]

Biggest problem with the 303/403 series was the internal electronics.  No heat sinking to the case, no reverse-polarity protection, have to climb the tower to adjust charging voltage, etc.  

That Rube Goldberg add-on ruined a fine alternator/mechanical design that could have sold for 2/3 the price if they had instead just put in a heat-sunk rectifier.  Heck, it probably could have sold for half, because then SWWP wouldn't have had to process so many returns from burned-out PCBs.

[Slingshot]

Biggest problem with the 303/403 series was the internal electronics.  No heat sinking to the case, no reverse-polarity protection, have to climb the tower to adjust charging voltage, etc.  

That Rube Goldberg add-on ruined a fine alternator/mechanical design that could have sold for 2/3 the price if they had instead just put in a heat-sunk rectifier.  Heck, it probably could have sold for half, because then SWWP wouldn't have had to process so many returns from burned-out PCBs.