[450] Gel cell batteries for primary station use?
Vinnie Grosso
vinnie at vinnievision.com
Mon Mar 23 22:17:45 EDT 2009
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
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > 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
>
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>
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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