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Re: [IRCA] DC Operation of General Coverage Receivers
- Subject: Re: [IRCA] DC Operation of General Coverage Receivers
- From: Rick Kunath <k9ao@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:14:37 -0500
Kevin R. in Gilbert, AZ wrote:
> This is going to sound strange and counter to conventional thought here. I
> have a car battery yanked out of a totalled Ford Escort and a deep cycle
> marine battery. The deep cycle battery is a piece of crap and the car
> battery has run for years. The deep cycle battery lasts about a year and
> then it is dead. I will never buy another deep cycle battery for radios.
>
Sorry to hear about your bad experiences with a deep-cycle battery.
I have several hundred of them (deep-cycle batteries) out in the field
serving as battery backup for high-power 800 MHz trunked base stations.
They do heavy duty service and last for years. Most of the time they are
replaced on schedule, not because they have failed for some reason. I do
buy (real) premium deep-cycle batteries, not a hybrids or worse.
There's some really good reading on batteries here:
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm
A car starting battery wouldn't last more than 5 or 6 cycles of full
discharge in my work application. I buy the same batteries for my own
use, and have yet to kill one.
I have some lead-calcium stationary batteries serving as backups for my
600-channel analog microwave backbone. Talk about long life. They're
amazing batteries.
I wonder what type of battery you actually had? Maybe it wasn't exactly
what you thought it was?
If you barely discharge a starting battery, you won't kill it as you
would with complete discharge cycles. And depending on the load, you may
not see much difference between types. I can tell you for sure that when
I tried using starting batteries for my long-term listening use, they
just didn't cut it for me. The deep-cycle batteries worked out just
fine, but as I mentioned, I knew I had the real thing, and a good solid
battery.
I use 100 Ampere-hour industrial-type batteries, and these should be
available from any good battery supply outfit. You won't find them at a
discount center or a Wal-Mart. Also, you want a decent charger that has
the proper charging-curve for the battery type you have. They aren't
expensive, as you don't need a super fast charge. Your battery supplier
can help you with this.
Batteries can be pretty confusing with all the different types out there
and sometimes it's hard to know exactly what you've got.
Rick Kunath
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