Danny, If your batteries are flooded wet cells, as distinct from sealed (VRSLA or AGM) types, you should take care to vent them to the outdoors. Wet cell batteries also require regular monitoring for electrolyte levels and specific gravity.
If your power supply has any kind of "crowbar" device in its output circuitry, it is a good idea to have a Schottky diode (not a regular silicon diode) between the power supply and the battery, with the radio connected directly at the battery. This will prevent the power supply from placing a dead short on the battery when a power line spike causes the crowbar to fire. Most Astron linear power supplies have such a circuit. It's also a good idea to have fuses in each power lead and in each jumper between batteries. 73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of wm5c Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 7:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Repeater-Builder] Battery backup Hi, New member here. Thanks for allowing me to join. Our club has acquired some large lead-acid 12v batteries we would like to use to back up our repeater in emergency situations. Does anyone know of a good (but simple and inexpensive [we are a very small group in a very small town]) circuit to accomplish this? Any input would be appreciated. Danny WM5C Heart Of Texas Ham Operators Group (HOTHOG) Brady, TX
