[aprssig] Battery & Charger for APRS Statio

[John Habbinga]

Thanks Steve.  (and Ray and Ray and others)

The CTEK charger that I have does have a power supply mode that puts
out 13.6 volts at up to 7 amps.  I have not been using this mode.

The charger has two voltage selections, 14.4 volts for standard
lead-acid battery designs and 14.7 volts for AGM batteries like Optima
or Odyssey.  I am using the 14.7 volts option.

With my radio and charger connected to the battery, it is in the
charging mode, but since the battery is charged, the charger is not
delivering any current.  Every 10 minutes the charger tests the
battery and if it senses that it needs a boost, the charger will send
a single 5 amp pulse.  Like turning the charger on and off again
really quickly.  I assume that since I have a load on the battery
continuously, that it is being sent a pulse once every 10 minutes.

If the battery drops below 12.1 volts, the regular charging cycles
kicks back in.  It appears that this happens about once every two or
three hours and charges for fifteen or twenty minutes.

I think this would be a better charging method than 'float' charging,
especially when not in a temperature stable environment.  I've been
using this battery and charger for about a month now and the battery
still seems in new condition.  I'm hoping that others will have an
opinion and reply.