My rover is also a "convertible" and I use 4 gauge from my alternator /
battery through a continuous duty relay so it is only on (charging my
operating batteries) while the vehicle is running. I just grab ground off
the vehicle frame.
To power my equipment I use 2 golf cart batteries (Trojan T-105's). I also
use a rig-runner but my high power equipment is connected via a bus-bar and
short 8 gauge to the battery. Pretty much everything is disconnected with
Power Poles, the big ones for the battery connections. I'm thinking I may
need to add a second pair of batteries as these are a bit light for the
whole contest.
The thing that is a Must for this installation is Jacob Electronics
Accuvolts. <http://www.cbsperformance.com/jacobs.shtml#accuvolt> They take
Battery power (9 - 12V) and convert it to 14. They aren't as clean as you
would like them and I have been meaning to add filtering... You can key them
on for transmit which works fine though and above 6m they are not too much
of a problem.
I have the battery connections at both ends fused at 40A and have not blown
those... I must not be trying hard enough!
73's
Matt / kc3wd
On 8/29/07, jcplatt1@mmm.com <jcplatt1@mmm.com> wrote:
>
> I'm putting the final touches on my rover for September and I was
> wondering if I could get some ideas on what other rovers use for DC
> power distribution. I'm especially interested in what you use to
> distribute power to your high power amplifiers.
>
> 73 Matt
> W5LL
>
> Hi Matt.
>
> Great question. My experience is that rover designs vary all over the
> map from quick setups to dedicated vehicles, so you may get all sorts of
> answers to your question.
>
> I can tell you what I do. My rover is also my car, so it converts back
> and forth from a commuter car to roverlite. All my low band bricks are
> at
> the 100 to 160 watt class, so they need about 23 amps. Same on the
> microwaves - about 10 to 22 amps max. I have two runs of #8 gauge power
> cord that I run from my car battery, through a grommet in the firewall,
> and
> into the cabin area of the car. When not in use these cables simply are
> coiled up under the floor mats. The power cords are fused (at the
> battery) on both the positive and negative lead. Each line has a
> PowerPole connector on the end. I then use RigRunner power breakout boxes
> where one of the power lines goes to my low band and uW IF rigs while the
> second line goes to the power amps. The power amp's themselves then have
> short power lines, about two feet, to connect to the RigRunner. Keep all
> leads short. I separate the rigs from the power amps so that the rigs do
> not see the voltage drop created by the amps (separate power lines). All
> my equipment uses PowerPole connectors so that I can go from house to car,
> back to house very quickly.
>
> That's pretty much it. I think when you make the jump to bigger bricks,
> into the 200 watts and up class, then you have to jump to the next level
> of
> power distribution including thinking about your alternator. My current
> alternator is 80 amps and roverlite has been on many rover trips with no
> problems.
>
> 73, Jon
> W0ZQ/R
>
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