On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 11:09:13 -0500, "KC8WVG , Bill"
wrote:

I'm trying to locate an emergemcy source of power to operate my 2meter
base rig in the event of a power outage. My HTX-242 manual states the
current drain of the transmitter as 8A @ 45W and 4A @ 10W. Would a 17aH
jump start battery work? Or is there something better, yet not to costly?

Automotive starting batteries are designed to deliver one huge slug of
electrons over a short period of time. They don't do so well at delivering
a low amount of power over a long time.

Me, I scrounge old SLA (Sealed Lead Acid)or gel-cel mat (forget the
acronym) computer UPS batteries, recharge them and test them under heavy
load. If the voltage drop is 5%, I keep them or pass them on to friends;
otherwise, take them to a battery dealer for the $1 (or more) core charge I
get back.

I don't have an automated charging system, and instead use a trickle
charger from Wal-Mart said to have some degree of intelligence. It cost me
$18.

I charge up the batteries, test them under load and without, and log the
result. I also run each on rotation for the weekly ARES nets, so I can
report "operating on emergency power', which gets me off the net quickest
and also encourages other hams to be self-reliant.



--
John Bartley K7AAY http://celdata.cjb.net
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Nobody but a fool goes into a federal counterrorism operation without duct tape - Richard Preston, THE COBRA EVENT.