diff --git a/tools/emitter b/tools/emitter
index ed8de3d..50344b8 100755
--- a/tools/emitter
+++ b/tools/emitter
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ find_outdated(){
                 ipa="$(sed -nE "s|^.+default via.+ src ($r) metric.+|\1|p" "$file" | head -1)"
                 echo -ne "\n Outdated '$ipa': $file"
             fi
-            hlist="$hlist,$ipa"
+            ## limit number of hosts addressed in one ansible run:
+            [[ n -lt 30 ]] && hlist="$hlist,$ipa"
             n=$(( n + 1 ))
             if [[ $(date --date="$d" +%s) -lt $(date --date="$git_date" +%s) ]] ; then
                 ## ansible run needed at least on one machine, run it on all: