[TenTec] TenTec Digest, Vol 51, Issue 5

[CATFISHTWO at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/5/2007 8:33:11 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
tentec-request at contesting.com writes:

For some  time now I have been toying with the thought of putting together a 
battery  system to run my station during emergencies .  I have however little  
knowledge and no training or experience on how complete such a project  .   
My station consists of a Orion II , Centurion amp and a  computer.  Can anyone 
point me in the right direction for help in  building such thing ?  thanks 
John Molenda kb2huk  




==========================================
 
easiest way to do this is to get a west mountain radio  PowerMate.  this goes 
between the power supply and the radio with one  connection to your battery. 
it charges the battery at either 1 amp or 5 amps  depending on which model you 
buy, and automatically drops the charge  rate when the battery does not need 
as much.
 
when the power goes out it instantly switches over to the  battery to run the 
radio. these are about $50 or so but very  convenient.
 
I run mine into a couple of sealed lead acid batteries ( three  at 33 AH 
each) from my mobility scooter cast offs, but any sealed deep cycle  battery would 
work, or a standard deep cycle battery in a box outside with short  power 
cables into the shack. I get my SLA batteries from Spinlife.com, with free  
shipping over $100 . if you use several in parallel, they run a longer  time.
 
the nice thing is they charge when ever the power supply is on  and over a 
period of a few days, even a deeply discharged battery comes up.  figure a 25% 
heat loss, 120 amps in to the batteries for 100 AH would take a  couple of 
weeks with 5 hours a day operation, but you seldom draw them down so  you really 
don't care.  try not to discharge them below 60%  and they  last a long time, , 
like years. 
 
this make it an automatic deal, just hook it up and forget  it. 
 
only problem I have is the orion , the 746 pro and the ts 2000  don't like 12 
volts, the screens get waco on pure battery. they want  13.8v,  but the rest 
of the rigs, ( scout, corsair II, omni c triton IV)  will run for hours on the 
backup batteries. 
 
hope this helps
 
tom N6AJR
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