Mathew,
There has been some good advice on here about different method to
accomplish what you want to do. I have used both the relay idea and the
diode isolator with success. As others have mentioned, using a "smart
charger" is your best insurance for reasonable battery life.
FWIW, the Feb. QST (pg 78) reviews a "PWRgate PG40" by West Mountain
Radio. Basically it contains two 80 amp Schottky diodes on a heat sink and
three Anderson Powerpole connectors. The diodes drop about 0.4 volts under
load. It's designed for forty amps. It sends whichever input voltage is
higher to the output and will isolate your power supply from the battery.
That is, if the AC fails to the power suppy, the battery won't back up into
the power supply. It apparently also has a diode and resistor that can be
used to charge the battery from the power supply at a rate of up to one amp.
(Would take days to charge your marine batteries!) I think it may be a bit
over priced at $69.95 but it or something like it may be an answer to your
situation.
73,
Al K9SI
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 17:11:37 -0000
From: "w9mwq" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Powering the Repeater With Marine Batteries
Last night my power supply took a dump! Good thing for backups.
Anyways, what I am wanting to do is put 3 marine batteries together
to run the power for the repeater with a charger to charge the
batteries. If I use a 12 Volt Car charger, do I risk the chance of
noise, or would the batteries filter that. What would be a good
source to charge these batteries? The power supply that will be
taking the place of the worthless Pyramid supply will be an Astron
52 Amp Rack Mount Supply. I have heard in the past that batteries
have been charged with these power supplies, but not sure if this if
true or not. Any ideas? Thanks.
Mathew
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