There was discussion in the Hurricane Flo thread about powering radios. I thought I'd show how I did it when I was portable. So, not exactly easy to move around, but "luggable."
First is the battery itself. Inside the box is a deep cycle "gel cell" battery. I chose this type -even though it's more expensive- for two reasons. 1) They don't offgas hydrogen when charging and 2) they are not position-sensitive. You could mount them upside down, and it wouldn't be affected. The case has a "cigarette lighter" socket, a couple Andersen Powerpole pigtails and a 175 watt inverter secured to the top. the little box with the LEDs is a battery state-of-charge indicator. Still working on a better way to secure it to the luggage dolly. Kinda low priority right now, though.
Next comes some of my solar panels. I bought two 25W panels and joined them physically (hinges, handles, and latches) and electrically. I mounted a Morningstar "Sunsaver 10" charge controller right to the panels, so I can hook up to any 12V battery and charge it. You can also see the two grey fiberglass rods that I use to put the panel in the correct angle to the sun.
I initially had concern for the fragility of the panels, but they have been pretty tough, falling out of the back of my truck (when parked) on at least two occasions and coming through just fine.
Here is the setup "in action:"
Finally, I built another box with a few more conveniences, but with a smaller, Absorbed Glass Matt battery which is sort of between the Gel Cell and traditional flooded cell battery in terms of position sensitivity, offgassing, etc. I put A Powerpole receptacle in it (way more expensive than making a couple pigtails, though), some USB charging ports, a small voltmeter instead of the little state-of-charge box, the obligatory cigarette lighter socket, and no inverter.
It's worked pretty well. I have had lots of people use it. One guy at a campout brought his CPAP machine but the site had no power. He used it (the one with the inverter) and it worked really well for him, too.
The ham shack in my home is powered by 4 golf cart batteries. If you look at the photo I posted of my shack, you can see them in the bottom right corner. I have a battery charger set on a time to top them off in the early hours of the morning when I am not likely to be operating. I have not has any sort of difficulty with the offgassing, I suspect because I usually only charge with a 1.5 amp trickle charger.
That's my setup. Hopefully somebody found it useful.
First is the battery itself. Inside the box is a deep cycle "gel cell" battery. I chose this type -even though it's more expensive- for two reasons. 1) They don't offgas hydrogen when charging and 2) they are not position-sensitive. You could mount them upside down, and it wouldn't be affected. The case has a "cigarette lighter" socket, a couple Andersen Powerpole pigtails and a 175 watt inverter secured to the top. the little box with the LEDs is a battery state-of-charge indicator. Still working on a better way to secure it to the luggage dolly. Kinda low priority right now, though.
Next comes some of my solar panels. I bought two 25W panels and joined them physically (hinges, handles, and latches) and electrically. I mounted a Morningstar "Sunsaver 10" charge controller right to the panels, so I can hook up to any 12V battery and charge it. You can also see the two grey fiberglass rods that I use to put the panel in the correct angle to the sun.
I initially had concern for the fragility of the panels, but they have been pretty tough, falling out of the back of my truck (when parked) on at least two occasions and coming through just fine.
Here is the setup "in action:"
Finally, I built another box with a few more conveniences, but with a smaller, Absorbed Glass Matt battery which is sort of between the Gel Cell and traditional flooded cell battery in terms of position sensitivity, offgassing, etc. I put A Powerpole receptacle in it (way more expensive than making a couple pigtails, though), some USB charging ports, a small voltmeter instead of the little state-of-charge box, the obligatory cigarette lighter socket, and no inverter.
It's worked pretty well. I have had lots of people use it. One guy at a campout brought his CPAP machine but the site had no power. He used it (the one with the inverter) and it worked really well for him, too.
The ham shack in my home is powered by 4 golf cart batteries. If you look at the photo I posted of my shack, you can see them in the bottom right corner. I have a battery charger set on a time to top them off in the early hours of the morning when I am not likely to be operating. I have not has any sort of difficulty with the offgassing, I suspect because I usually only charge with a 1.5 amp trickle charger.
That's my setup. Hopefully somebody found it useful.
I'm working the HAM rig into my home office desk arrangement. I spend the most time (here.) Sometimes thats good...sometimes that's bad.