[450] Gel cell batteries for primary station use?

Vinnie Grosso vinnie at vinnievision.com
Tue Mar 24 00:24:13 EDT 2009


David,

Very cool stuff, I'm a cheap skate and use a Rat Shack digital meter and a 
bunch of strip terminals. It's a rat's nest all right. This is much better

Vinnie

On 23 Mar 2009 at 22:31, David McKenzie wrote:

> 
> You may like these then Vinnie, I'm seriously considering a no-meter
> option and one of these (will 
> break even vs metered): 
> 
> http://www.powerwerx.com/product.asp?ProdID=34676&CtgID=3575
> 
> Or one of the other two they have. I think I'm going to take the
> anderson powerpoll plunge to 
> standardize all the DC in the shack and hopefully clean things up
> considerably. Working on 
> getting an MFJ strip with a number of PPs and a couple of binding
> posts.
> 
> On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 10:17 PM, Vinnie Grosso
> <vinnie at vinnievision.com> wrote:
>     David,
>     
>     I find the volt meter on the Astrons to be useless anyway.
>     
>     Vinnie
> 
> 
> On 23 Mar 2009 at 17:28, David McKenzie wrote:
> 
> >
> > Ya, not sure what I am going to do. I think it will be too
> expensive
> > to switch to batteries at this
> > point, I'd rather supplement later. Right now I can sell my
> VS-50M
> > for 150 or so and get a new
> > 70A model for 300ish shipped, or get the one with out meters for
> > considerably less and pick up a
> > digital in-line current meter.
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Rich <t41 at optonline.net> wrote:
> >   Seems like a good plan, if you are going to spend the money
> why
> > not have
> >   less noise and emergency power as added benefits? You may be
> > able to
> >   find
> >   sealed heavy duty GEL Cells used for cheap. There was someone
> > selling
> >   nice
> >   ones at the Newtown hamfest a few years back, remember Bob?
> >
> >   Just wanted to say how nice it was to see everybody yesterday!
> > Looking
> >   forward to New Hampshire in May!
> >
> >   Rich
> >   --
> >   -------+++++--------
> >   Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but
> on
> > balance life
> >   is suffering,
> >   and only the very young or very foolish imagine otherwise. -
> > George Orwell
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Vinnie Grosso" <vinnie at vinnievision.com>
> > To: "144.450 Mailing List" <450 at lists.vhfwiki.com>; "David
> > McKenzie"
> > <kb1fsy at vhfwiki.com>
> >
> >   Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 3:02 PM
> >   Subject: Re: [450] Gel cell batteries for primary station use?
> >
> >
> >   > Dave,
> >   >
> >   > Great to hear about the large gel cells at 70 amp. that may
> be
> > the answer
> >   >
> >   > Vinnie
> >   >
> >   >
> >   > On 23 Mar 2009 at 13:07, David McKenzie wrote:
> >   >
> >   >>
> >   >> Vinnie,
> >   >>
> >   >> From what I understand, the gel cells are functionally the
> > same to
> >   >> deep cycle batteries except
> >   >> that they are sealed, exhaust no vapors while charging
> (deep
> > cycle
> >   >> puts out some sort of toxic
> >   >> gasses i think) and cost a bit more. It is good news that a
> > lot of
> >   >> hams are using batteries to power
> >   >> their stuff, that means there is a wealth of information
> out
> > there,
> >   >> assuming I can find it. A 70Ah gel
> >   >> cell battery appears to be about a little less than half
> the
> > price
> >   >> of a 70 amp ICS supply. Looks like
> >   >> you are saying that I need a float charger from the linear
> to
> > the
> >   >> battery and then a voltage
> >   >> regulator between the battery and the equipment. Sounds
> > reasonable,
> >   >> I'll look more into it.
> >   >>
> >   >> On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 12:37 PM, Vinnie Grosso
> >   >> <vinnie at vinnievision.com> wrote:
> >   >>  David,
> >   >>
> >   >>  I think the better answer could be use a 70 Amp deep
> > cycle
> >   >> battery. I
> >   >>  believe
> >   >>  you need to have at last 2X times the reserve in the
> > battery, or
> >   >> you will get
> >   >>  reverse EMF back to the radio. You will also need to build
> > a
> >   >> zener based
> >   >>  regulator to make sure nothing ever gets over voltage.
> Good
> > news
> >   >> is that
> >   >>  many hams do this, and the Green movement now has much
> data
> > on
> >   >> home
> >   >>  controllers that will have some info as well.
> >   >>
> >   >>  Dam good idea -- even though you do not think you will
> need
> > it
> >   >> to power the
> >   >>  radios -- you will at some point.
> >   >>
> >   >>  Also I was running my 746Pro on car batteries, and the
> > noise
> >   >> floor almost
> >   >>  diappeared -- it's amazing how good 80M and 20M got with
> > the
> >   >> lower noise
> >   >>  floor.
> >   >>
> >   >>  Vinnie
> >   >>
> >   >>
> >   >> On 23 Mar 2009 at 11:28, David McKenzie wrote:
> >   >>
> >   >> >
> >   >> > Instead of buying a 70 amp supply or a second 50 amp
> supply
> > to
> >   >> > parallel, I am considering picking up a large gel cell
> > battery
> >   >> and
> >   >> > fast/float charger to run the amp all the time and the
> > radios
> >   >> during a
> >   >> > power outage. I don't know very much about batteries.
> > Here's what
> >   >> I do
> >   >> > know:
> >   >> >
> >   >> > Rated in ampere-hour, which pretty much means how many
> amps
> > can
> >   >> be
> >   >> > drawn until dead over a specific time (20 hours
> supposedly
> > is
> >   >> > standard). Charging rate should always be 10% or less of
> > Ah
> >   >> rating.
> >   >> > Float chargers exist relatively cheaply that allow the
> > battery to
> >   >> be
> >   >> > connected to a constant voltage supply (existing astron
> > supply)
> >   >> > indefinitely.
> >   >> >
> >   >> > My questions are really as follows:
> >   >> >
> >   >> > What size battery would I need to "buffer" a 60-70 amp
> low
> > duty
> >   >> cycle
> >   >> > load to power the amplifier? I'd assume the amp would
> > connect to
> >   >> the
> >   >> > battery directly and then the battery to a charging
> circuit
> > with
> >   >> > protections for when AC is removed from the CVS.
> >   >> >
> >   >> > Since my goal is not long term battery backup but to run
> > high
> >   >> current
> >   >> > devices for short periods, would a smaller battery on a
> > constant
> >   >> > supply be the best bet? Do you need to match the Ah
> rating
> > to
> >   >> the
> >   >> > instantaneous maximum current draw?
> >   >> >
> >   >> > Is this just a dumb idea, and I should buy more power
> > supplies?
> >   >> >
> >   >> > -Dave
> >   >> >
> >   >>
> >   >>
> >   >>  The best way to predict the future....is to invent it
> >   >>  Carl Mangold
> >   >>
> >   >>
> >   >>  _______________________________________________
> >   >>  450 mailing list
> >   >>  450 at lists.vhfwiki.com
> >   >>  http://lists.vhfwiki.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/450
> >   >>
> >   >>
> >   >
> >   >
> >   > Vincent Grosso
> >   > Vontage and Cell 917-546-6661
> >   > The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent it
> >   > Carl Mangold
> >   > _______________________________________________
> >   > 450 mailing list
> >   > 450 at lists.vhfwiki.com
> >   > http://lists.vhfwiki.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/450
> >
> >   _______________________________________________
> >   450 mailing list
> >   450 at lists.vhfwiki.com
> >   http://lists.vhfwiki.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/450
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
> Vincent Grosso
> Vontage and Cell 917-546-6661
> The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent it
> Carl Mangold
> 
> 
> 


Vincent Grosso
Vontage and Cell 917-546-6661
The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Invent it
Carl Mangold
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