Battery Backup

[Savage]

Yeah they are for my fridge/freezer and some led lights that came with the kit. I use a cheap 10ah battery on a charger for my gmrs mobile base radio. I also have a 12v power supply which runs my cb currently but I can just tie that in to the battery if the power goes out.

 

How much life does the 10ah battery give your base?  I keep getting drawn into thinking I need 100ah or more.  

[FrancisHaws]

How much life does the 10ah battery give your base? I keep getting drawn into thinking I need 100ah or more.

Probably several days but I always put it on the charger at night so I can't say for sure. For example, today my btech 50x1 was on it all day scanning and I transmitted for maybe 30 mins total on high power (50 watts) and it never dropped below 14.1 volts. The radio needs a minimum of 13.8 so I figure under normal use I can get several days out of a single charge. I also have 2 large deep cycle batteries from my trolling motor that I keep hooked up to a 100w solar panel so in the worst case scenario I have that to fall back on. The small battery I use for my station is the 10ah harbor freight one for their electric start generators. It's smaller than a lawn tractor battery and easy to transport so that is why I use it. I think a regular size car or truck battery and a small solar panel would be more than enough to keep you on the air 24/7 as long as you you aren't rag chewing the whole time

[dwmitchell61]

If you don't need the meters, this is the model without them. https://www.toboaenergy.com/product/samlex-sec1235-switching-power-supply/?_vsrefdom=adwords&msclkid=7e73c0b058a31f4ec5f49f244919dfc7&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=**LP%20Shopping%20-%20Electrical%20Switches&utm_term=4582352148614327&utm_content=woocommerce_gdf_12563%20%7C%20Samlex%2030%20Amp%20120vAC-13.8vDC%20Switching%20Power%20Supply%20%7C%20%24156.8

 

If you don't need the 100A capacity, you may like this: https://www.toboaenergy.com/product/samlex-bbm-1225-battery-back-up-1224v-25amp-charger/

I always over-engineer... It allows for later expansion without buying EVERYTHING all over again. If you don't plan on doing anything but the one radio, by all means, go as light as you can.

[BoxCar]

Personally, I think you are way over engineered. I would look at other supplies such as some of the inexpensive Chinese ones. I'm running a 30A no name that's designed for communications work and paid less than $25 for it. If you want a good Chinese one, look to Mean Well. Their supplies are a little more than what I paid but have a great rep. My little cheapie has millivolts of ripple, so little I can't measure it accurately with my cheap Harbor Freight meter.