ml wrote:

hi

was wondering if someone had some thoughts on this and might be able to
help me 'calculate' the value i need

I was thinking of getting a jado fuel cell, it puts out 100w (about
8amps ?) @12vdc

it's not totally regulated, at full output the volts dip a bit

wanted to power a 2m rig at low power 5w out it falls w/in the spec's
of the jado but i wanted a buffer

at first i thought of a battery using the full cell to charge the
battery during receive since tx is brief but how do i calculate
how big a battery i need?


i also wondering if perhaps a capacitor or a few of them might also
do the trick and if so how to size them

not sure the pro's /cons' of battery vs cap's


naturally if i used the caps' i'd prob get a dc to dc regulator

any help appreciated

If all you really need is 5W out I would spend my money on about 5 amps
of solar cells at 12 volts nominal, a really good charge controller such
as this one - http://store.solar-electric.com/sbchco2512vm.html - and a
good 200 or 300 AH deep cycle, you would be well ahead of the fuel cell
solution. And it would keep you in energy for a lot of dim days.

tom
K0TAR