SUGGESTIONS FOR SUPPLYING POWER TO YOUR STATION

Following is/are my answer/s to a question about using a small power supply for the ham shack.
I usually recommend, to new hams that they plan on getting a 35 amp supply for their shack. Even if you are just starting, as you will be adding more equipment in the shack, a 35 amp supply will run almost everything you will have up to 100 watt transmitters and
other equipment. You can hook several transmitters/transceivers to this supply and it should handle anything you want to do. You will only be using one  transmitter at a time so you should not overload this one. You can start with a smaller supply, of course, but you will eventually start tripping it out, as you add more and higher powered equipment.
I realize the 35 will cost you more, but it will supply your station for many years to come.

An alternate idea, is to use a marine battery, with a small charger, to keep it up to full charge. Remember it needs to be where the gasses can be vented outside if possible. One of these batteries will supply your station for hours, even with the main power off. 
This is good, especially when you have bad weather and need to provide emergency communications for your town/city.
We have used one of these batteries for portable operation and have run 100 watt SSB,
(Single Sideband) out in the field, for over an hour, without any drop in output power. 
Remember, that if you are running FM, that your average power consumption will be higher, (for the same radio), and your battery will not last as long, as it will on SSB, as you are only consuming power, when there is audio causing a SSB radio to use
power.
If you use only a small charger, like maybe 5 amps or so, there will be less gassing of the battery, so the water will not boil out as quickly. Some of the new automatic chargers are good because they don't overcharge the battery.
Remember, also, that "MAINTENANCE FREE BATTERIES ARE ALSO MAINTENANCE PROOF", in other words, you CAN'T check the liquid level, so if you
buy a marine (or other wet cell) battery, be sure to get one that you can check the level
from time to time. Use distilled water, if possible, buy a gallon, just for topping off the battery and it (the battery) will last even longer.
I like this set up for field day use also, because as most of our local clubs run generators to supply power, the charger and battery will help absorb any surges, caused by the generator, not holding the voltage or frequency steady. Just a thought, but I'd hate to lose my radio to one of these, sometimes "clunker generators" that may be, something
less that well regulated. Also, just because the generator is new, does not mean it will regulate any better than an older well used one. The worse example of this was a generator, (almost new) that was supplied by the telephone company and it made some rather wild excursions in voltage and frequency….

Speaking of FIELD DAY GENERATORS. If your club is running emergency power. As I said some of these generators, do not regulate, very well, so if you will, plug an electric heater into the generator and run it (the heater) all the time, it will provide a steady load to the generator and help with the regulation. Most ham radios don't pull that much power and therefore don't keep a steady load on the generator and this could cause it to surge up and down in speed (frequency) and voltage, which could cause some problems, with your equipment. Place the electric heater in the clear of everything and set it where it will not cycle off and on, thus it will place a steady load on the generator . Of course, don't use a heater of too high capacity (watts) for this. If it has several power levels check the different levels and use the lowest one, that will help to keep the machine well
regulated.
These are a few thoughts of mine so hope you find some of it useful.

Copyright © 2004, Jerry Hemby / W1NRA