VHF Radio Power

Just wanted to ask your humble opinion on powering my VHF Radio...?

I currently run it directly via the 12v cigarette lighter socket which is absolutely fine when I'm actually in the Jim or if stationary and the engine is running.

What I would like to do is have it available for operation but without the engine running and of course has hit not run off the main starter battery when the engine is off.

I've thought about obviously installing a secondary leisure type battery with a split charge from the starter battery which will be fine, but just wanted to ask these questions:

Can I run direct from the 2nd battery to the VHF head unit without the need to go through a fuse..? I'm guessing the the head uint is fused at the moment - or is that in the 12v cigarette connection..?

Where is a good place to locate a 2nd battery - and, what size does it need to be - as it's only going to power the VHF then I'm guessing this can actually be quite small - my VHF unit is a MAXCOM PM100 - (power data below)



Is there any other clever ideas that anyone has come up with...???

Cheers for your help in advance.

I assume you are talking about only having it on when you are sitting in the car. In which case I would have thought you could continue to run it off the main battery with no problems. At 160mA the car battery will last a very long time. Your transmit duty cycle will be very low even if you think you talk a lot.

Hi Martin,

I have a running events business and need it to last for at least a morning without necessarily the engine running all of the time. Although nipping off for 10 mins hear and there I'm guessing will recharge what little I've used I suppose...?

Cheers

Martin.

I should think a good leasure battery would power that all day long and then top it up/charge it in the evening carry a meter with you just to check it

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationNo eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationthis would be my set up wired to battery


and this for good measure


Jack

I would second what has been said and add that with a 70ah leisure battery which is really not a particularly big one you would be able to transmit continuously on the 25w range for best part of 10 hours off one full charge which you would do off the mains the day before. So unless you are giving a running commentary on your events, one charge should last for many multiple events. As for where to locate the battery, given that the need to charge off the car is not really necessary, I would secure it in the boot but do it properly with decent hardware because the last thing you want is for it to find it's way loose in an accident as being hit from behind by a big lump of lead and acid at any speed will definitely ruin your future. Also being in the boot makes getting it out to charge less of a chore than if it were crammed in under the bonnet. Finally always run a fuse in line with any electronic equipment that will cost more to replace than the quid for ten that fuses cost.