Ralph Shumaker wrote:
Could a computer be run directly from a car battery (with appropriate voltage drops)? I thought maybe it could except for the negative voltages. Why does a UPS have to supply AC to the PC when the PC just converts it *back* to DC? I like the idea of having the computer running directly from a car battery on a battery charger set for a trickle charge. If the computer is the only thing running off the battery, then it should be able to stay up for several hours of outage before it runs out of spark. And it should survive longer if it doesn't have to convert to AC and back to DC again, right? A voltage monitor could signal the PC to shut down. A Myth machine would never miss a recording because of a mere power outage (assuming the necessary cable equipment had sufficient UPS also).
Perhaps you are looking for something like this: <http://www.mini-box.com/M3-ATX-DC-DC-ATX-Automotive-Computer-car-PC-Power-Supply?sc=8&category=13>
Note that a standard desktop PC will probably exceed the power rating of this supply.
Gus -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
