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External Base Battery Recommendation
Posted by mattpasurveyor on July 11, 2020 at 1:23 pmI am running a Trimble R10 base with TDL450 connected via split cable. My need to run the 35 Watt setting on the TDL all day. I have heard that some are using deep cycle marine batteries. What specific brand/model/spec battery are you using with great success? What charger should I be getting for optimal battery life?
Thanks for your time!
-MattPASurveyor
bill93 replied 3 years, 5 months ago 17 Members · 23 Replies- 23 Replies
I don’t use my 35w radio often — a TCP connection works most of the time for me — but when I do I use UHF I power the radio with an Optima D34M battery, and use the Optima charger to charge the battery.
I have been using 55 ah SLA for years.
I add flat connector pig tails. I add 3 of them. One powers the radio, one powers the elec fence, and one (used to) power the Topcon legacy e.
The 55 amp hour sealed lead acid battery is available on eBay, for around $100.00.
The pigtails are heavy, like boats use for their trolling motors. 10 or 12 GA.
To charge, I use a 2 amp trickle charger, that goes into maintenance mode, after batt is charged.
I hope this helps.
Nate
Any deep cycle battery will work fine. We??ve always either purchased
Interstate or CAT batteries; both are
probably overkill but they do fine with GPS & lasers. We??ll keep them handy due to rampant theft
of batteries from equipment &
after some use we simply put them on a battery tender to keep them prepped/ready the occasional usage. not sure why the response was reformatted like thisAny deep cycle battery will work fine.
We??ve always either purchased
Interstate or CAT batteries; both are
probably overkill but they do fine with
GPS & lasers. We??ll keep them handy due to
rampant theft
of batteries from equipment &
after some use we simply put
them on a battery tender to
keep them prepped/ready the
occasional usage. not sure why
the response was reformatted like thisWe used deep cycle marine batteries also. Tell cell batteries are smaller and lighter weight but cost more. A quality automatic charger is just as important.
I’ve used an Interstate “wheelchair” battery I think like D55 or something like that, it powers the radio, recharges great, lasts a couple years and is VERY small with a handle.
Another vote for the marine batteries. Optima yellow or blue tops are great and will go all day. I have also used ATV/motorcycle batteries if I needed to haul them a ways from the survey rig.
Are you operating in the wide open? I would only boost it to 35W for long distances with a direct line of sight.
Depending on how hot the ambient temp is where you are working, running it at 35W can really heat that radio up…I have seen some folks actually use a cooler and ice packs to keep it from overheating. Just something to think about if you are going to be running it all day in the summertime.
“…people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.” -Neil PostmanAll Powers make solar chargers that should keep your base running all day and ready for the next day by attaching to the battery of your choice.
@greg-shoults-rpls
I attended a seminar at Trimble Dimensions where they recommended wheelchair batteries.
We use a Interstate DCM0075 (75A) battery that runs all day. Put it in a battery box. Heavy, but keeps it from disappearing. The battery charger is a 2A that goes into trickle once charged. The charger is just as important as a good battery.
My issue is the Trimble radio. But that is for another post.
I’d like to point out that any lawn mower battery will cost half of what a deep cycle battery will and will work fine – for a month or 2.
I couldn’t get an interstate battery from my supplier one day and I needed a battery quick, stopped in and got a motorcycle battery at the local Honda dealer, it has worked great for many years now.
Satel is the way to go.
I appreciate all of your recommendations!
-MattPASurveyor
If you are looking at longevity, a deep cycle (including wheel chair batteries) is the way to go.
They are built differently than a regular “starting” battery. A starting battery is made for the heavy load of staring an engine and then to be recharged right away if you want the battery to last. Running a “starting” battery down to near dead will significantly shorten it’s life.
A deep cycle is made for a smaller load, but to run that load all day, which is exactly what you need for your base radio. A deep cycle is also made to be drawn down to dead or almost dead (hence the name “deep cycle”) before being charged, and not damage or shorten the life of the battery by doing this
Any battery is only good for so many recharge cycles, so going way oversize and then recharging them everyday isn’t necessarily doing yourself any favors. If you got a great big group 31 deep cycle (the standard heavy truck/equipment size) you can probably go a couple or even several days running your base radio before needing a charge (depending on the power setting you use it at)
If you have to carry it a ways, a smaller battery is of course better and looking into a lithium or similar could be worth the extra cost.
For the most part I put the base station somewhere that I can drive to so carrying the battery isn’t a huge deal. A standard group 24 (size) deep cycle battery will more than cover any day in the field and since it is a very common battery the price isn’t bad and it’s easier to pick up than the big group 31’s (tho if you don’t mind lifting the big ones, they are often a lot more capacity for very little more cash)
Re:Changers
PAY the extra for a good charger.
Must haves here include:
You also want something that actually has a setting specifically for deep cycle
A computer controlled automatic shut off (over charging, even at a trickle will kill a battery)
This will usually mean the computer will also examine the battery and actually change the rate at which it charges (kind of like filling your car with gas and slowing down the pump while you top it off) (on a side note don’t “top off” your newer cars, yes it will run fine but over time it messes with the emission control systems and you’ll have that annoying light glaring at you all day)
And regarding the “OPTIMA” batteries, they are fantastic, expensive but fantastic. The way they are built they will hold up to vibration being bounced around job sites etc. longer, but because they are built differently than most batteries they do need a special charger. It needs a separate setting for AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat)
I’ve used them for ?ñ10 years, they’re great and don’t weigh as much and a very dependable
Trimble also recommended not running on 35w, especially out here in the desert where summer days hit 110?ø often, we’ve done the ice pac thing too.
Curious about how you use the electric fence…just to keep animals away or humans?
- Posted by: @mattpasurveyor
I am running a Trimble R10 base with TDL450 connected via split cable. My need to run the 35 Watt setting on the TDL all day. I have heard that some are using deep cycle marine batteries. What specific brand/model/spec battery are you using with great success? What charger should I be getting for optimal battery life?
Thanks for your time!
-MattPASurveyor
We use sim cards inside the R10 instead of radios. Works most places, for the rare place it doesn’t we do use radios but not at high power. I did some very remote work recently in the rockies, the cell worked most places but there were a few points where it didn’t, just did some RTX on those points. The radio never would have worked, topography was too rugged and the area too big with high hills in between. My TDC600 has an AT&T card, I have a verizon mifi, and also a google phone (T-Mobile network), so I have three networks to chose from. I usually use the verizon mifi. I have had cases where only one of those three actually worked.
I also use an alloy as a base, with that I use an external microhard modem (I have two, one is verizon and one is AT&T) that runs off of a pigtail from a 7AH battery, same as the receiver. The modem has a small antenna and also an external antenna with a 3 m cable. I recently had a situation where I could log in to the modem but not the receiver towards the end of the day. Checked my email the Alloy had sent a message that it was running low on power and was about to shut down. The modem kept running, though. Turns out that there is a external voltage setting in the alloy that tells it when to switch to internal battery. It was set at 11.8, and I didn’t have an internal battery inside the alloy (it takes two R10 type batteries). Lessons learned…always have internal batteries inside the alloy, and I set the voltage cutoff to 10.8V. The modem will run on 7V to 30V, so the battery would have to really drop down to shut that off. It uses about 2 w when transmitting.
I can also use the external modem with the R10, I just wifi from the R10 to the modem.
@jim-frameUsed the same stuff for several years with an older Trimmark 3 35 watt radio. I could get 2 days without recharging. The Optima batteries are hard to get fully charged with a regular battery charger. I went to the Optima battery charger and never had any problems.
- Posted by: @john-hamilton
Curious about how you use the electric fence…just to keep animals away or humans?
I live in Arkansas. Where, if you are an animal, with experience, you know to avoid electric fences.
If you are human, you usually have experience with electric fences.
Story:
One day my nephew came over. He’s a pampered kid. At that time about 5 yrs old. We have an electric fence. We had it pushed down, while walking over it. My kids said “don’t touch that”. Of course “rules are made to be broken”, according to his upbringing. They were all barefoot. My kids stepped over the wire. Nephew stepped on it. He jumped and yelled. My kids all laughed. They knew rules are good.
Anyway, most people around here have “experience” with wires with insulators and wire. The insulators are your warning. My rig around the base is set on fiberglass rods. But, it seems to make all stop. So far.
But we all enjoyed nephew and the electric fence.
N
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