Marvin Munster wrote: > Did you think about the West Mountain Radio PWRgate. I think it has > all the capabilities you are looking for, even a 3 stage charger so > you don't boil your batteries to death. Here is the one I use. > http://www.impulseelectronics.com/pwrgate_super.htm
After reading the manual for that previously, my problem with those was they are limited to a 10A charge to the batteries. Also they recommend connecting your load directly to the battery if you have a mission critical load (wouldn't a repeater qualify). I would recommend something like a commercial/RV power converter. I picked up a new WFCO 55Amp converter from ebay for $99 that will run with or without batteries and includes a 3 stage charger. There are other manufactures of these products, though most are fairly similar. Even MFJ has an over-priced version for use with their Ameritron HF Amplifiers. One local repeater site around here uses a single 75Amp model and a 400AH battery bank to run 4 VHF/UHF repeaters. It doesn't solve the low voltage cut-off problem, but does a fine job of running load and charging at the same time. Will Gwin www.N5KH.org
