I have a solar charged / battery powered 2 meter repeater that has been on for
about 10 years. I have tried Trojan T105s, Everstart deep-cycles, and now I
have an old "absorbed glass mat" Liberty 100. By far, the Liberty standby power
type battery will outlast the others hands down. It will survive the hard
cycling that a ham repeater will be subjected. They are very expensive. I think
a new one is around $350 for a 120AH 12 V but the one I have came out of a
substation backup after it was replaced. I think they call these types AGSM or
AGM types. They are valve regulated, maintenance free, and will last for a
very, very long time. You might find them used and available just for the
asking around telco buldings, substations, hospitals, and the likes. I run 75
watts charging with a charge coltroller and the repeater is the heaviest used
machine around this part of the state. Hence, I have not gotten anything to
live much over 2.5-3 years except for the old "worn out" battery that I
mentioned. Actually, I just installed it as a temporary when I had the deep
cycle battery cell die just to be used until I could get to the store and buy a
new one. Well that was years ago and it has survived long cloudy winter spells
just fine so it has just stayed there like the energized bunny.
