TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3 EMERGENCY COORDINATOR
WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
ARES BULLETIN NR 16.08 DATE: February 21, 2016
SUBJECT: THE FLOATING SYSTEM - PART 1 OF 2
The floating system we will be speaking of is for batteries, and has nothing to do with being on the water. The battery floating system has been around as long as the telephone company. The floating system is used when it's necessary to have a continuous, uninterrupted flow of current to electronic devices such as a telephone system, computer, or radio systems, where a temporary loss of power will drop electronic connections or cause loss of data information or messages. In this system, a battery or string of batteries are connected across the equipment leads so that if the power source would happen to fail, the batteries would continue to supply the power, without having to be switched into the circuit.
The battery or string of batteries will continue to supply current until they are discharged or the power source comes back on. While the commercial power source is supplying the power to the equipment, it is also charging the battery or batteries, or keeping a trickle charge going into them. To keep from over charging the floating battery, the power source voltage should not be much higher than the floating battery voltage. (To be continued)
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WV ARES District 3 Emergency Coordinator
WCEC
Wood County WV