ham radio mobile battery booster

cactus man

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Messages
39
I am looking fora 12v battery booster to address the "voltage sag" when operating
a Ham Radio in my vehicle.
I am aware of the battery booster from MFJ....MFJ-4416C

Are there any other similar models available?

I'd like to keep the price range to be reasonable under say $100.00 to $150.00

Cactus Man
 

AVService

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 30, 2011
Messages
2,163
Are you actually having problems because of this?
Which radio are you using?
73
KC0UKR

I am looking fora 12v battery booster to address the "voltage sag" when operating
a Ham Radio in my vehicle.
I am aware of the battery booster from MFJ....MFJ-4416C

Are there any other similar models available?

I'd like to keep the price range to be reasonable under say $100.00 to $150.00

Cactus Man
 

vadimax

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
2,269
Location
Vilnius, Lithuania
I don't see how this is relevant?

He is asking about a full power Ham mobile I think running in his car which already has a much bigger constantly recharging battery than this.

I do like the idea and could find this thing useful for sure but I also could find the $500 more useful overall.

I offer a separate unit because of two reasons:

1. Having in mind that he manages to discharge a vehicle battery makes me think his ham equipment is not toy level and needs a decent power source.

2. Going to some desolate area with minimal radio pollution to get most effective reception and to lose vehicle battery power... Not the most bright decision. Power sources should be independent for pure security reasons (imagine you do it in winter in the area where winter IS winter — you cannot start your vehicle — you die).
 

AVService

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 30, 2011
Messages
2,163
Well first of all we still do not know what the exact problem is that the OP asks about really?

I can't disagree with any of your reasoning but you can easily just add another full size car battery and isolator to the car and get a whole lot more battery than that Anker thing for a whole lot less money and also would never need to recharge it manually.

I have been using full power mobile rigs for a lot of years and remotely powered in emcomm situations as well and that thing looks like it has maybe a 36ah battery inside?
So I can get maybe 3 times the capacity for 1/3 the cost by going with something built-in to the car to do the same thing.

That thing does look nice and can certainly fill some needs but is crazy priced it seems to me too for what you will get from it.

I can get 35-40ah AGM batteries for under $100 and build my own pretty easily and the only downside to much bigger versions is cost and weight and I think a car will have no trouble with the weight.

Anyway I am still wondering exactly what the OP is even asking as I have never had "Sag" in any car or rig combo that I have used,and I have used many.

I offer a separate unit because of two reasons:

1. Having in mind that he manages to discharge a vehicle battery makes me think his ham equipment is not toy level and needs a decent power source.

2. Going to some desolate area with minimal radio pollution to get most effective reception and to lose vehicle battery power... Not the most bright decision. Power sources should be independent for pure security reasons (imagine you do it in winter in the area where winter IS winter — you cannot start your vehicle — you die).
 

vadimax

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 28, 2015
Messages
2,269
Location
Vilnius, Lithuania
Well first of all we still do not know what the exact problem is that the OP asks about really?

I can't disagree with any of your reasoning but you can easily just add another full size car battery and isolator to the car and get a whole lot more battery than that Anker thing for a whole lot less money and also would never need to recharge it manually.

I have been using full power mobile rigs for a lot of years and remotely powered in emcomm situations as well and that thing looks like it has maybe a 36ah battery inside?
So I can get maybe 3 times the capacity for 1/3 the cost by going with something built-in to the car to do the same thing.

That thing does look nice and can certainly fill some needs but is crazy priced it seems to me too for what you will get from it.

I can get 35-40ah AGM batteries for under $100 and build my own pretty easily and the only downside to much bigger versions is cost and weight and I think a car will have no trouble with the weight.

Anyway I am still wondering exactly what the OP is even asking as I have never had "Sag" in any car or rig combo that I have used,and I have used many.

Tell me if I am wrong. The vehicle battery capacity is being calculated this way: discharge it under load from its fully charged state to 12V, than multiply that value by 2. So, to use "the lower part" of declared capacity you need a boost capable adapter/circuit. Is that correct?
 

Timothybil

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 9, 2007
Messages
3,662
Location
The great state of Misery (Missouri)
I agree that a second vehicle battery with the adapter to keep the vehicle from discharging it would be a good idea. The other thing I would be looking at would be the wire gauge of the lines feeding the rig. If the wires are not of sufficient capacity it would be very likely that he would see a voltage sag when the rig transmitted. Something to look at, and relatively cheap to fix it proves to part of the problem.
 
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