Disaster Preparedness With This Massive 300Ah Power Queen Battery

[@don_n5skt]

I don't mind the battery content. I like to see your technique for testing them

[@pnowikow]

Bolt on a hybrid inverter and some solar panels and an interlock or better yet an automatic xfer switch and your golden. Maybe do 3-4 of those batteries too. Diy power wall.

[@davenewmyer3735]

You could do a lot of APRS beaconing with that battery !!

[@hamradiotube]

Dude, I'm thinking of setting this up with one of those igates and leaving it off. It would last forever lol!

[@curtw8827]

My three LiFePO4 100 Ah batteries (3 x 12 = 36v) in golf cart ran my freezer (70 watts) for 3 days after Milton

[@dougdaniels]

Keep the battery videos coming! *If* you were running all the items in multiple rooms, would you be using multiple inverters or a $hitload of extension cords/power strips?

[@hamradiotube]

Yes. I would use my 3000 watt inverter to power the shack, living room, and fridge. I also have a couple small ~300-400ish watt inverters I can use for other random things with other batteries in other rooms too.

[@keegan854]

Usually better to do the distribution at higher voltage -- otherwise you lose a lot of power to the voltage drop, or you have to use really thick wires to avoid that.

[@timel64]

Roughing it off grid with my Air Fryer😂 Lights out? Who wants some bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers.😂

[@hamradiotube]

Hey I'm not going to stop enjoying the wonders of my air fryer just because the power is out.

[@dorvinion]

Cooking is survival

[@robertmeyer4744]

That a lot of POWER ! Great for Arrl field day ! Run many stations at once ! and keep the beer cold ! It is sad that outside of Asheville NC still no power. Some still do not have cell phone converge and many can not drink the water . I have some friends in that area. Grid down 28 days or a little less for them. Many have no heat . Trouble getting propane into area with roads and bridges out. This is why you need a few of them LiFePO4 batteries . We take them camping and cold nights we just wrap a sleeping bag around the 200 AH we have and works great ! I put thermometer on battery and it stayed over 50F even when it dipped to 20F . 73

[@hamradiotube]

I hear ya. I spent my entire life going to the Asheville area. Just west of it. It gets pretty secluded out there which is great, until you need something. Where my dad lived it took 30 minutes just to get to the closest grocery store. That also means that beer is 30 minutes away!

[@Bill-HRT]

Mike! I'm in! Those lead acid gotta get out of my truck bed. Yuck! You and Jason spend waaaaaay too much of my money. Keep the videos coming, Brutha! See you out there. 73 de Bill

[@hamradiotube]

I'll help you spend your money but I ain't helping you get those lead acid batteries out of your truck 🤣

[@Sonicgott]

Heat gun about to fall off the table at 8:30 😂 - KF0QNM

[@hamradiotube]

Thanks to the magic power of editing it did not lol! If you notice, it magically appears behind the inverter. It 100% fell off the table.

[@johnk8091]

But it's critical that it can power your APRS station when the power goes out...

[@mediocreman2]

That's a big boy!

[@davidhaywood9071]

Mike, your videos have gotten me interested in POTA. Is there a book that explains all the basics of setting up the electrical side of running a POTA setup? Your 300 Amp Hour is nice, but for those who don't wish to or can't afford such a battery, can you use a lead acid car battery? Also, if a book is available, does it explain the use of solar panels for supplementing and recharging a battery?

[@hamradiotube]

Hi David, I honestly don't know about a book. I've never looked. I know the ARRL has made a book on POTA (and they didn't even think to include me in it, can you believe that??) but I don't know everything it covers. I have certainly made videos over the years covering everything you're asking but probably not in one video. I suppose I could do another one. I think it's a good idea. But the short answer is it's pretty easy. You can use any 12V battery type you want. Most people are using LiFePO4 batteries for power as they are incredibly light weight, are close to the 13.8V most radios want to see (LiFePO4's are ~13.3V), are incredibly safe, they deliver the full capacity, where lead acid will generally only give you half of the rated Ah's, have protection circuitry built in to prevent over discharge, over voltage, over current, etc. As far as solar, any solar system rated for 12V is fine. I have a variety of panels but generally will use one or more 100 watt panels to keep the battery charged if I'm out for a weekend camping and playing radio. You do need a charge controller in line between the panels and the battery, and it does need to be for the proper chemistry battery you are charging, but a lot of charge controllers these days support multiple chemistries. Hope that helps. I think I'll make a video on this topic soon. I do actually talk somewhat about this subject in this coming Mailbag Monday video that you may find helpful. It will premier this Monday at 3pm Central time.

[@keegan854]

Car batteries are designed for short bursts of high current, not deep discharge. You CAN run radios from them, but you run the risk of damaging them pretty easily. There are also lead acid batteries designed for deep discharge, but they still can get damaged if you go below 50%. And they are really heavy. Not a great choice for portable ops. I really think you are better off saving up for a LFP battery, even a small one. 300 Ah is waaaay more than you need for a typical POTA activation. Depending on your radio and transmit power, something like 6-20 Ah is probably enough.

[@dorvinion]

Batteries are getting almost to the point where anyone with a roof can go off grid. Buy 4 ($2150) and get 15kW for ~$140 per kWh Add a 48v inverter If I didn't have EVs, four of these + 6kW of panels would be enough to run my house for probably 95% of days in a year I think I could get by with 8 of these, 12kWh of panels, and Home Assistant to allow the cars to charge only during daytime after the house batteries are full unless I override.

[@DellFargus]

You need to name that "The B.A.B." - Big A$$ Battery. I would probably burn my house down with one of those.

[@bwillan]

For powering your house when there is no, you'd be better off getting a grid tied solar panel system with battery backup. Spendy depending on how much solar and battery capacity you get, but it gives you the flexibility to power everything in your house. For your shack, I'd use that 300AH 12.8V battery in combination with one of those Epic PowerGate devices. Depending on how often your power goes out, this may be something to consider. Check out the "DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse" youtube channel for more information that you'll ever need on Solar, batteries and inverters.

[@kd5you1]

It would be nice if they made a high current version of the Epic Pwrgate. The Epic Pwrgate handles a maximum of 40 amps and charges at 10 amps at the most.

[@solarnewbee7868]

what did shipping cost u on that?

[@hamradiotube]

Good question. Power Queen did provide this battery to me for free, but shipping for this is free (I can only speak for the lower 48 of course).

[@solarnewbee7868]

@@hamradiotube Thanx for the response. All i was thinkin how much for the shipping. Good vid.

[@solarnewbee7868]

@@hamradiotube 1000 bucks here in canada without shipping.

[@johnk8091]

I don't think you have enough batteries Mike LOL

[@hamradiotube]

I just need one more!!

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

12 step recovery for battery recovery

[@solarnewbee7868]

or was this a freebie

[@richardholt3191]

300 amps at 12 volts does not equal 300 amps at 120 volts. I think that your math and calculations are incorrect. Remember appliances run on amps, volts and watts. Without any losses that battery might produce 30 amps at 120 volts.

[@hamradiotube]

When you’re using an inverter to power your 120v devices it does.

[@mikemiller6684]

What inverter do you recommend for 300ah battery ? 73 N4VG