[aprssig] Optima Batteries?

[Brian B. Riley]

While various new high efficiency battery technologies have some impact upon
this, the general rule of thumb is ...  "the heavier  the battery the
greater the capacity" ... you need to determine your current requirements
and make your decision.

 Personally I feel that you would be better off with a KPC3(+) a Yaesu
VX150, a 17 AH gelcel, and a couple of sections of Rat Shack mast than
trying to power a D700 for any period of time from even a 75AH battery. 5
watts and 20-30 feet of mast will usually trump 45 watts and 8 feet of
antenna. The overall lightness of the setup I am suggesting also means it
could be carried farther up the mountain to be placed and useful.


-- 
Cheers ... 73 de brian, n1bq, underhill center, vermont



On 3/30/05 1:20 PM, "Josh Keller" <jeepin95 at comcast.net> wrote:

> My SAR group has 2 repeaters setup in ammo cans for portable operation.
> One is a D700 that operates as a digi for APRS, the other is a link for
> the SAR freq (not used yet). At this point they have only ever been set
> in a vehicle with mag mounts but we're looking to make them portable.
> Has anyone ever tried the Optima Yellow Top batteries for this? I was
> thinking something along the lines of the D31A-OY. Autozone.com has them
> for $189.99. The "reserve capacity" appears to be 75Ah but it weighs in
> at 59lbs. Also looking at the 51R-OY which Autozone has for $139.99 and
> it only weighs 26lbs but 41Ah.
> 
> Anybody had experience with these for this type of work? They would
> probably be kept on an autocharger in the front of a trailer until needed.