Battery Question

[FMROB]

Hello all,

Two questions.

1. If one were very cramped for cabinet space, and needed to co-locate in the same cabinet a repeater, duplexer and two sealed lead acid AGM northstar batteries (manufacturer that Tessco sells), is this taboo. I know I have read about off gassing of the batteries and the destructive nature of this on the electronics, but is this tru for sealed batteries? Again, space in mind.

2. Secondly. The quantar and astro tac series radios are all 24 volt as standard from the factory order for battery charge/revert?

Thanks, Rob

[Bill_G]

Rob -

1 - I've done it. I've put batteries in the bottom of Quantar station cabinets before. No ill effects over time. They were the four foot cabinets with the front and back panel louvered doors used for a million years by Mot.

2 - I would have to look it up. I think you're right - they are 24v.

[FMROB]

Bill,

Thank you.. Just wanted to confirm..

Thx, Rob

[fineshot1]

Hello all,

Two questions.

1. If one were very cramped for cabinet space, and needed to co-locate in the same cabinet a repeater, duplexer and two sealed lead acid AGM northstar batteries (manufacturer that Tessco sells), is this taboo. I know I have read about off gassing of the batteries and the destructive nature of this on the electronics, but is this tru for sealed batteries? Again, space in mind.

Thanks, Rob

Hi Rob - you should be safe with the agm batteries. We have used the same batteries for the same purpose
and so far never had a problem and have about a half dozen of these cabinet/batt installs in service around
the county. The only problem we have had is getting around to visually inspect them every so often as that
is one thing that gets overlooked.

[escomm]

A complex multisite multichannel public safety trunk system near Atlanta had UPS in the 6809 cabinets. FWIW. Backup was from a generator, though.

[psapengineer]

Just be sure that you don't overcharge the batteries.............
Or run them past their end of life.

[FMROB]

I would assume that the quantar internal battery charging circuit is intelligent, thus not overcharging the batteries??

Thanks, Rob

[psapengineer]

Actually, I think it’s adjustable in the later versions of Quantar.......................

We’re not a big user of quantar so I can’t tell you for sure (SK you recall?) Download the Northstar battery data sheet, it probably recommends something on the order of 2.25VPC for 77 Deg F room (cabinet in your case) temp.

If your cabinet rarely or never gets above 77 Deg F, you should be OK at that voltage. If it gets warmer than that for periods of time, you might consider setting the charge voltage a little lower than recommended to preserve cell life. Yes, there is a small decrease in run time. However, our philosophy is that we'd rather be sure the cell can still carry the load a few years out than have a few more minutes of run time during an extended outage.

Regards, Bob

[fineshot1]

I would assume that the quantar internal battery charging circuit is intelligent, thus not overcharging the batteries??

Thanks, Rob

Rob - I have been using these with the IQ4 option(not with quantars) and they have performed flawlessly.

Just put the radio gear and the battery or batteries in parallel with the supply. The IQ4 senses the batt
technology and cells and adjusts the charge to suit. I prefer the DLS55 model but the 30 or 45 will work
just as well. They should work great with any radio gear. When the power goes out the batts take over
instantly and there is no need to switch between the supply and battery.

http://www.iotaengineering.com/12vdc.htm

[FMROB]

Fineshot.. Excellent. I will check it out. I have been looking for a solution for the dreaded MTR3000 argus crap. Merry X Mas

[psapengineer]

Fireshot: Very cool product, Thanks!

[fineshot1]

oh - sorry i forgot to mention that you may have to contact them
for a distributor list as i am not sure if they will sell their products
directly but they are easy to deal with and have a good crew and i
am in now way affiliated with them, just a happy customer.

merry xmas & happy holidays to all.

[FMROB]

Sounds good. Thanks