Right Will. I'd like to get rid of the UPS all together. It's just taking 12V converting it to 120V and then feeding an adaptor that drops it back to the 12V range again ... which is (a) inefficient, and (b) heats the house.
So I'd like to be able to run enough of the network off 12V that in a power cut I can stay connected ... Sure, the CO will eventually go down after a day or so - but I'd guess that the CO will probably be back up before the house power comes back. I'm thinking a 12V car battery in the network closet with a trickle charger for normal use and a solar charger (or simply charge it from the lighter socket as I drive around looking for gas) for the week after the storm. My weak link right now is using a PC for the firewall - it sucks too much power so I'm looking at something smaller and seeing several little SBCs that run of 12V. I'd rather not use a generator because the damn things are noisy (and I'd probably scew the maintenance anyway). The heat doesn't bother me - I can live without AC but I do want to know what's going on in the world and get the to the NWS sites. Edmund Cramp -- On the plus side ... The average generator puts out enough carbon monoxide that it keeps the mosquitoes away! -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of willhill Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 11:14 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [brlug-general] Running a network on 12V Nice, but I think he's looking to skip the DC to AC conversion and just go DC to DC. Something like a trawling motor battery and voltage regulators for DC to DC conversion. This would be more efficient. Thinkpads can run off 12V. A car battery will work but you want something to clean it if you use a running vehicle. My brother is very pleased with the regulator IBM makes for this. For other devices, you can probably get away with voltage regulators like 7805, etc. They provide 1 AMP each and I've used them in parallel - YMMV, use proper heat sinks, support circuit, consult the specs and your nearest EE. Happy hacking. Over the outage, someone lent me a generator. I used it to power my UPS and the UPS to run equipment. Laptop life was the limiting factor without the generator. The cable modem and wifi access point ran for hours on the UPS. Overall, I'm glad the power is back. The rest of this was a pain. _______________________________________________ General mailing list [email protected] http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net _______________________________________________ General mailing list [email protected] http://mail.brlug.net/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net
