UPS Battery Backup

Juan TG9AJR

Do you operate your Flex with power supply with a UPS battery backup ?

I have a 6600 and currently my PC is with a UPS but not the 6600, should I get a second one just for the 6600 when does power outages moments that will solve the radio to shutdown before the PC and had those CAT issues.

I don't operate remote but when he power goes out even if you are right there it will not let you power cycle off.

ntilley905

It seems like a good idea to me just to protect the internal electronics. I wonder if there’s a way to inhibit TX when the UPS goes to backup in order to save power? Either via a physical tie in to an accessory port or via NUT or similar software package.

WX7Y

maybe buy a larger capacity UPS or install a much larger external battery and hard wire it into the UPS giving you a VERY long backup and then you can use your Computer / Radio normally for a very long time.

You can also use SmartSDR on your computer and install the UPS software on your computer and let it shut down the computer thus shutting down the radio.

You could also use NODE-RED and a flow (Program) to trigger a relay off that disconnects the DC power from the radio.

maybe one of these Idea's will help you decide how you want to do it.

Juan TG9AJR

Thanks Bret, some great ideas for sure.

Well more than keep operating for a very long time, I want more the ability to properly power off the 6600 before the PC and then power off the PC in order to avoid those known issues if the PC powers off before the radio.

Just to have that safety time when a power outage (unannounced).

BTW I really need to start learning NODE-RED for Amateur Radio (Flex) use, I'd seen some nice features.

Stan VA7NF

My choice is to have a separate LifePO3 battery (use a 20Ah - I think they all now have an internal Battery Management System - and a 20A power supply set to 14.4V. This will supply the radio with good power when the mains is up, and 3 hours of transmit when it drops. Note at 14.4V the battery will stop taking a charge, so it can be left connected permanently. The rig draws approximately 5A receive and 18A transmit at any power 0-100W.

Hal Massey

I do use a UPS at two of the three remote Flexes I run. The farm in Northern Colorado had more power dropouts than I expected. They were short in nature. The house radio is on one too. Interestingly the truly physically remote repeater site high in the Rocky Mountains has not needed a UPS. When the power goes down on the mountain it is an infrequent event. However, it usually is very long when it does happen.

Juan TG9AJR

Are the UPS you for the Flex radio similar to the ones for a PC ?

My plan is maybe to have two, one for the PC and one for the 6600.

Not what I want to keep transmitting but just to have enough time to power off all in time to avoid those suddenly shutdowns.

Neil D Friedman N3DF

Move to downtown Dayton. One brief power outage in eight years.

Hal Massey

Yes, the PC UPS units work just fine. 73

Tilman D Thulesius

I recently had a failure (SDCard probably corrupted) at one of my remotesites where I have a Flex 6400.

Most likely due some power failures. I have the "remote on" enabled.

Im thinking whether to put a UPS would prevent me from having this issue coming back to me. Alternally having a "backup battery" on the 13.8V DC line.

But how can I get the radio to shut down gracefully with some sort of trigger from a UPS or source saying that I have a power failure??

BEst / Tilman SM0JZT

Mike-VA3MW

We doubt that the card failure was due to power failures. SD cards tend to get corrupted when there is writing to the card while the power fails. The SmartSDR firmware does minimal writing to the SC card. This means the even pulling the power will not corrupt the SD card unless you were writing a new profile as you pulled the plug.

If you card failed, it could have been a few things, but lately, they have been related to an actual hardware/media failure of the card that failed prematurely. There was a batch of them that we received that seem to have been of questionable manufacturing by the card manufacturer.

73