Re: [IRCA] DC Operation of General Coverage Receivers

[Rick Kunath <k9ao@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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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