"Roger Long" wrote in news:z3oRf.1554$Mj.799
@twister.nyroc.rr.com:

Would you try to trip on overvoltage or just measure battery case
temperature directly?



A voltmeter to watch that is accurate. By the time the temperature
sensor were to alarm the battery was too hot, it would be too late.

You have a long time notice the voltmeter is too high, however, as its
reading is instantaneous. Just mount it next to the oil pressure guage I
hope you're monitoring when the engine is running, not waiting for the
oil pressure alarm to tell you the crank doesn't have any lube and it's
too late to save it.

Just like in my car and truck, I want those guages to be right in front
of me when the engine is running, not some idiot light that comes on too
late. I want to see what the oil pressure and charging voltage is doing.
As to the charging, the Link 10:
http://www.energyoutfitters.com/prod...ntrex_link10.s
htm
is my guage of choice. Not only does it monitor the charging with the
alternator, but it monitors the discharging and AC battery charger's
progress, as well. Every boat with house batteries should be using one.
You can monitor your charging voltage and current, as well as your
discharge current and available amp-hours to plan how long you can run
them down before safely recharging....not waiting until the lights are
too dim...(c;

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 08:49:29 -0500, Larry wrote:

By
gentlemen's agreement, APRS uses 10.141 LSB, which puts the RF just
inside the upper edge of the 30 meter ham band for amazing range 24/7

Other than Airmail which I already have, and using a Pactor II
TNC/ICOM-802, what kind of software do you use for position reporting
on 10.141 ?

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Other than Airmail which I already have, and using a Pactor II
TNC/ICOM-802, what kind of software do you use for position reporting
on 10.141 ?



APRS is its own software. It converts the data from the APRS packets (it
uses broadcasted standard packet radio, not pactor) to plot the points on
a crude map/chart then trails the target so you can see where he's going
and where he's been over long periods of time. It also charts fixed
station data like the WX stations on a system.

The APRS software's latest version and the latest maps are on Bob's site:
http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/aprs.html
Look near the bottom. This software is only necessary if you are a ham
and going to run APRS on the air. The only thing you need to watch it on
the net is your browser on findu.com.

Hookup is just as simple as your Pactor modem.....You'll need a packet
TNC like a Kam XL:
http://www.kantronics.com/products/kamxl.html
which does 300 baud, narrow-band audio for a ham SSB transceiver. HF
packet is very narrow banded compared to VHF. It has to fit in a CW
channel to keep the government bureaucrats happy. We use a 170 Hz AFSK.
Kam also does Pactor, WEFAX, and all the other modes. It also is
engineered for APRS HF/VHF crossband repeater and inband repeating.
Other APRS stations on both bands can all be used to repeat your packets
as "digipeaters" to fill in the holes caused by HF propagation.

Oops...looks like the KAM only does Pactor I so you're stuck with the
proprietary modem for II.

Be sure to set the M-802 on LSB for packet....

On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 21:06:49 -0500, Larry wrote:

Hookup is just as simple as your Pactor modem.....You'll need a packet
TNC like a Kam XL:

I was under the impression that a Pactor II was capable of operating
in packet mode.

Is that incorrect ?

I'm familiar with the web side of APRS/findu.com, just looking for new
options for sending up position reports other than Airmail.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

I was under the impression that a Pactor II was capable of operating
in packet mode.

Is that incorrect ?



I've never had contact with that proprietary modem so can't answer your
question. Packet is open to any manufacturer, so I suppose it should be
possible with a Pactor II modem.

The packets APRS uses are the broadcast packets just sent out in the blind.
There's no ACKs so you never know whether anyone received them or not or
whether they crashed with someone over your horizon. So, it sends them out
often. AIS' time-slot scheme is far superior to APRS in this respect.
It's nice to know everyone else's transmitter is quiet while you're
transmitting. But, unlike APRS, every packet station is a digipeater you
can put in your path, plus the packet repeaters all with the same tactical
callsign that go off if you're in their range. APRS propagates very well
through these, as is evident by findu's very long range, mostly on VHF.

Another problem would be that the battery peforms as a huge capacitor
for the alternator. The waveforms out of the alternator are pulsing DC,
and the battery will tend to level this out to a straight DC level
which the inverter likes a lot. Without the battery in the circuit, the
alternator may not even start up, as it requires excitation voltage on
the field to start up with. I am not sure about how it will behave with
just pulsing DC for a source either.
Interesting though..anyone want to try it?

Larry DeMers

Wayne.B wrote:

On Sat, 11 Mar 2006 13:56:14 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:


However, why not disconnect the alternator from the battery circuit
and run it to an inverter large enough to run the dual 10 amp battery
charger?


The alternator needs to always have a load on the output to keep the
voltage from going too high and burning out the diodes (integral to
the alternator). Normally the battery provides this constant load.
The risk is that your inverter might have a mode where it turns off in
some way, leaving the alternator unloaded, and leaving you looking for
a replacement. I'd leave the battery in the circuit, why take a
chance?

Larry,

I ruined four golf cart T105's last summer by overcharging them. I
have a Balmar alternator and MH612 regulator. This regulator has a
separate wire that goes to the common positive input to my batery
combiner, and is the 12vdc reference voltage for the regulator. The
lead has an in-line fuse which corroded at one contact, interrupting the
12vdc reference signal to the regulator, and it then went open field to
17v!! We eventually smelled the hydrogen being produced..and awful tangy
smell that is unmistakeable. The plates of the battry actually warped
accordian fashion, and my capacity went from around 100aH (to 12.0v)
down to 35 aH before 12.0v. So replaced them, and the reference leads
fuse assembly. Balmar provided a replacement holder that is much
better, and sealed too.

But they did overcharge a couple times (the symptom came and went due
to vibration giving a good connection sometimes, and a bad one
occasionally. I found it only by chance) causing their being ruined.

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Lake Superior

Larry wrote:

"Roger Long" wrote in news:geKQf.8326$Da7.1067
@twister.nyroc.rr.com:


If a long run under
power with a crude voltage regulator overcharges the wet cells, they
will tolerate it better.


I've never seen a working "crude regulator" overcharge any lead batteries.
The only thing the batteries care about is 14.2V. They'll take care of the
rest (charging current) quite nicely by themselves.

I know what you mean about battery position on Endeavours. The 35' has a
little battery box under the port quarter berth wedged up under the beer
cooler that protrudes into the tiny space under the port cockpit seat. I
used to have to lay on my belly and slide into the berth backwards, after
removing the bedding and pad, then lay there with my face close to the
batteries where I could get blasted in the face if anything happened while
I was looking at the electrolyte level. We moved the house batteries into
the locker under the starboard cockpit seat in a custom box Cap'n Geoffrey
built in his wood shop. At least you didn't have to have your face into
the cell to see it. Of course, you got to unload the locker to get to the
box...(c;

In article ,
Larry DeMers wrote:

We eventually smelled the hydrogen being produced.

Yea, right, would you like to try again for what is behind
Door No. 3.....

What you smelled was the Sulfur Dioxode boiling off.....