[NLRS] Sealed lead acid (Gel Cell) battery source in the Twin Cities area

[Doug Reed]

At 12:22 AM 4/8/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>I have decided to try running with an independent power source for the
>radios and related equipment for the rover trips this spring and
>summer.  Can anyone recommend a good local source for sealed lead acid
>batteries?

MPC Surplus (AKA Materials Processing Corp) near I-494 and I-35E has UPS
batteries in the 20-40 AH range. I think the prices ranged from 50 cents to
$1 per AH. Bring a voltmeter and check the batteries before you buy. I
personally don't trust anything that reads under 11.5 volts. By the time
its a couple volts low you probably have bad cells. 

I haven't seen anything bigger than these on the surplus market. I use a
regular 115AH marine starting battery. I just keep it in a plastic carry
case and don't tip it over. I also mounted a 1.5A automatic charger to the
case for keeping the battery charged when I'm not using it. Sam's Club
seems to have good prices on these batteries. 

73, Doug Reed, N0NAS.