Skipp, That's what I figured. I use only SunWize/Steca "SIGMA" solar controllers, and they will disconnect the load from the battery bank if there is an extended period of low output from the solar panels coupled with heavy usage of the radio. The controller has three pairs of terminals: solar panel, battery, and load. For obvious reasons, it is important that no load be connected directly to the battery. To do so will not only negate the low voltage disconnect feature, but it also will prevent the controller from accurately determining the state of charge. This particular controller keeps track of energy going to and taken from the battery, and displays the SOC on an LCD. It works like a champ!
The MTR2000 repeaters I use have a built-in low voltage disconnect, so I have full protection. I can program a voltage at which the repeater will transmit an alert tone over the air, to advise users that it is running at reduced power due to low voltage. If the repeater were equipped with an AC supply, an alert tone also informs users of a power failure. 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of skipp025 Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 9:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Re: Low Voltage Disconect Hi Eric, The difference is the LVD for the load vs what the Solar Charger does. If you don't remove the load... the equipment will draw the batteries down when the solar (charging system) fails. Such is the case in the two previous examples I mentioned. The Trace C30a protects itself, but does not isolate the batteries. Yeah, the System was Jury Riged... but it was the only game in town provided by the previous owner/operator. One often has to follow the work of previous persons. cheers, skipp > "Eric Lemmon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > That's odd... all solar charge controllers worthy of the name include a > low-voltage disconnect as an essential feature, so there's no need for a > separate device. Was this a jury-rig? > > 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY > Yahoo! Groups Links Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
