Agreed - I have a couple of Gel cells (an 18 Ah and a 24 Ah), both of which
are already wired up ready to be connected to the power distribution box I
have next to my power supplies - takes about 5 seconds to reconfigure the
distribution to feed from the batteries rather than from the power supply.
As I would also be running my amateur gear from the same power source in the
event of a blackout, this would probably not be sufficient, so I have the
option of running a lead from the car (or taking the secondary battery out
of it) to charge up the batteries inside. A small portable 1 KVa gennerator
is my next radio gear purchase.
One word of warning - do NOT overcharge sealed lead acid/gel cells as there
is the potential for them to explode (rare, but I have seen it) - make sure
that you use an automatic charger, i.e. one that can regulate the amount of
charge when the battery is charged.





Matt

"Bill Crocker" wrote in message
...
Sealed Gell-Cells, are much safer. Car batteries can give off fumes that
are explosive!

Bill Crocker


"Anthony" wrote in message
...
My power came back about 4am. I sat here in the dark and without a
scanner
to listen to. I never had or even thought of a battery back up for my
780's.
My utility company, PSE&G, is on a 900mHz trunked system so I had no way
to
monitor them. lessen learned, GET A BATTERY BACK UP!! I am so mad at
myself
for not doing this from the start..
anyone out there have a nice battery back up source? I am open for
ideas,
please pass them along.
thanks
Anthony