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Good4you
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I have a 75w 2meter mobile transceiver (Yaesu FT-2900R – 13.8 volts DC, 15 Amp max draw, min draw is .3 A-.7 A ) that I would like to use in a camp type setup. The power source will be Two 12volt batteries (not dedicated) on a small enclosed utility trailer, which will be 20’-50’ away from the transceiver. The transceiver will be used mostly to monitor the channel (low power), with occasional transmitting. I have thought of several different ways to set this up, and there are pros and cons to each. Any thoughts on what would be a quality set-up, without wasting money would be appreciated. My main concern is that the transceiver does not like low voltages, and will reset if the batteries are not in good condition.
Here I the options I am thinking of. The components are listed in order, with the first item listed being the one closest to the trailer batteries, and the last item being the transceiver.
Option 1)
a) 20’-50’ of Heavy Gauge Wire
b) Transceiver
Option 2)
a) Battery Booster (MFJ-4416B - $150 - http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-008745)
b) 20’-50’ of Heavy/Light? Gauge Wire
c) Transceiver
Option 3)
a) 20’-50’ of Heavy/Light? Gauge Wire
b) Battery Booster
c) Transceiver
Option 4)
a) 20’-50’ of Light Gauge Wire
b) Third Battery
c) Transceiver
Option 5)
a) 20’-50’ of Light Gauge Wire
b) Third Battery
c) Battery Booster
d) Transceiver
Option 6)
a) Battery Booster
b) 20’-50’ of Light Gauge Wire
c) Third Battery
d) Transceiver
Option 7)
a) 1,600 watt Inverter (Already Own This, and a 2,500 watt Inverter)
b) 20’-50’ Standard A/C Extension Cord
c) Power Supply (32 Amp - ALINCO DM-330MVT - $160 - http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-003728)
d) Transceiver
Here are some of the pros/cons that I see. Option 1 seems like the standard installation; however, heavy wire gauge is expensive, difficult to work with, difficult to splice, difficult to roll-up, and to store; so I don’t really like this option (I am guessing this would need to be heavier than 8awg, and anything over 8awg I prefer not to work with.) I think when transmitting it will reset the transceiver with this installation as well. Options 4, 5, & 6 require another battery which is nice, because then I could use the transceiver and battery together as a stand-alone unit when needed; however, batteries are expensive and don’t last long, so this option seems like a maintenance issue (I could partially mitigate the maintenance issue by using a car jumper battery, since then it will have dual purpose, but I don’t think they are deep cycle, which would be bad for this installation.) Option 7 is nice because I would like to have a power supply. I would also be able to more easily move this setup to my house and use it as a base; however, this is not necessary. The downside to option 7 is that it seems inefficient to convert DC power to AC then back to DC, I am guessing this will be an additional drain on my batteries (but I do not know how much.) This would also mean I need to run the inverter continuously; which I would rather not, due to wear, and the noise from the inverter fan (since people might be sleeping in the trailer, though this concern is minimal.)
QUESTIONS:
1) What seems like the best installation option?
2) What is an appropriate wire gauge?
3) What would be an appropriate Third battery size and type?
Here I the options I am thinking of. The components are listed in order, with the first item listed being the one closest to the trailer batteries, and the last item being the transceiver.
Option 1)
a) 20’-50’ of Heavy Gauge Wire
b) Transceiver
Option 2)
a) Battery Booster (MFJ-4416B - $150 - http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-008745)
b) 20’-50’ of Heavy/Light? Gauge Wire
c) Transceiver
Option 3)
a) 20’-50’ of Heavy/Light? Gauge Wire
b) Battery Booster
c) Transceiver
Option 4)
a) 20’-50’ of Light Gauge Wire
b) Third Battery
c) Transceiver
Option 5)
a) 20’-50’ of Light Gauge Wire
b) Third Battery
c) Battery Booster
d) Transceiver
Option 6)
a) Battery Booster
b) 20’-50’ of Light Gauge Wire
c) Third Battery
d) Transceiver
Option 7)
a) 1,600 watt Inverter (Already Own This, and a 2,500 watt Inverter)
b) 20’-50’ Standard A/C Extension Cord
c) Power Supply (32 Amp - ALINCO DM-330MVT - $160 - http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-003728)
d) Transceiver
Here are some of the pros/cons that I see. Option 1 seems like the standard installation; however, heavy wire gauge is expensive, difficult to work with, difficult to splice, difficult to roll-up, and to store; so I don’t really like this option (I am guessing this would need to be heavier than 8awg, and anything over 8awg I prefer not to work with.) I think when transmitting it will reset the transceiver with this installation as well. Options 4, 5, & 6 require another battery which is nice, because then I could use the transceiver and battery together as a stand-alone unit when needed; however, batteries are expensive and don’t last long, so this option seems like a maintenance issue (I could partially mitigate the maintenance issue by using a car jumper battery, since then it will have dual purpose, but I don’t think they are deep cycle, which would be bad for this installation.) Option 7 is nice because I would like to have a power supply. I would also be able to more easily move this setup to my house and use it as a base; however, this is not necessary. The downside to option 7 is that it seems inefficient to convert DC power to AC then back to DC, I am guessing this will be an additional drain on my batteries (but I do not know how much.) This would also mean I need to run the inverter continuously; which I would rather not, due to wear, and the noise from the inverter fan (since people might be sleeping in the trailer, though this concern is minimal.)
QUESTIONS:
1) What seems like the best installation option?
2) What is an appropriate wire gauge?
3) What would be an appropriate Third battery size and type?