radio question

[ijason]

hello guys i was looking at buying a 200w invter for my car so when im at the campground i can run my radio dc it's 9v but ac it's 120v 14w now i have a little car honda civic so i am not sure what the amphr rateing is on it but i would have to gess at least 30 amp hr can some one tell me how long i can run the radio off my invter and sometimes i may need to charge my ham radio witch is 12w ac so a total of 24w is all i would use

thanks
Jason

[Greg M]

Hi Jason,

Efficiency wise, the invertor is probably the worst option for you because of conversion losses, and, starter batteries don't like being discharged very far before being recharged. You could risk damage to the battery's capacity to hold a charge if you don't start the car to top it up regularly.
Does the portable radio have a DC input? If so you can find a 12 volt cigarette lighter adapter to run it at Radio Shack for about twenty bucks. It could also likely double as a charger for your Ham gear just by selecting the right voltage and swapping the end(I'm assuming it's just a 2meter handheld).
If the radio doesn't have DC in you could get a 12 volt charger for rechargeable batteries. Energizer makes one that will charge four hicap AA NiMH's in 15 minutes. Occasional use of that would be no strain on your car's battery. Well, unless you're out for a month without starting the car

Good luck, and hey, nice, tidy panel work in your avatar

-Greg VE7GJM

[ARKPAT]

Jason Welcome!



I use Two jump-start batterys that has the charger built in. You can use it to start the car and a portable ECOM with some velcro attached to the radios ( Mobile or handheld and a magmount mobile antenna ) and the Jump-start battery. Some of the have small inverters built on to the side of them. If you use it up keep the parts and buy a newer replacement. I have rigged up solar panel to charge the batteries from one while using the other.





Sorry about the look of the trailer it is in Stealth Mode ( getting parts to build from ).
See the RED Jump Start battery on top of the trailer and next to it is the solar panel. I had two other Jump Start batteries that day and had plenty of lights and radios when the storm rolled in that morning. Yep I slept in it that weekend.




Pat