At 09:24 PM 01/29/10, you wrote: >I'll look into the AGM bats - the rptr draws about 450 >mA in RX, and about 4A in TX.
What do you have in that portable repeater that draws almost half an amp in receive? >Getting a Pelican case for the repeater & cables, but >not sure how to make the battery transportable.. Wheels?? I'd take a heavy duty trash cart, torch off the axle and the 4 inch wheels, move the axle up on the frame so that some 12-inch or 14-inch wheels fit, then put the battery box on that. >I suppose if it's 'really' sealed, then I wouldn't have to >worry about leakage of the electrolyte - could use >a case for it & the charger. I was involved in a similar but different situation a few years ago. I was looking at transporting eight 12v 18ah batteries, a GR300 repeater, four 10-foot sections of antenna mast, the antenna itself and some coax, about 12 miles, all by horseback. Why the 18ah batteries? They were available, and new. One of the club members needed to re-battery four UPS units where he worked. Each used two of those batteries in series. He had planned the re-batterying such that he'd buy the eight a few days previous to the race, charge them, use them over the weekend as a single parallel bank of almost 150ah, then install them in the UPSs the week after the race. Then it was pointed out that a single battery (to smooth the juice), a small Honda generator (the current model is here - see <http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/products/modeldetail.aspx?page=modeldetail§ion=P2GG&modelname=EU1000I&modelid=EU1000IAN> and some gasoline (at 6 pounds to the gallon) weighs a lot less for the same delivered amp-hours, and has charging ability as a bonus. This one is lots cheaper, won't last as long, and is more fuel hungry (you get what you pay for): <http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=66619> For a roll-your-own version, this might be interesting... <http://www.thefoodguys.com/homemadepower.htm> >Any recommendations about appropriate & 'sure-fire' >chargers for one of these? Ask the guys that have been doing long-life batteries, and professional charging systems for over a century... the phone company. Unless I'm mistaken the Eagle Rock central office here in Los Angeles is still using the 1939 glass Edison cell battery plant. >I could put together something for float charging, Look at the Battery Tender products (made by Deltran) for maintenance charging. A while back I installed one under the hood of a friends car that gets used maybe once every 4 to 6 months. See <http://batterytender.com/automotive/waterproof-800-usa-western-hemisphere.html> There is probably something better out there but that scratched the owners itch. >but there will also be a need for 'real' charging as well. As I said, ask a retired telco plant engineer for some ideas. >Thanks again, > >Tim Mike WA6ILQ
