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British Columbia Frequency Modulation Communications Association

Emergency Power System

In efforts for emergency preparedness, all of the BCFMCA's repeaters and support equipment operate on a battery backed DC power plant. This allows continued operation in the event of AC failure. There are also provisions to allow for the connection of an emergency generator to keep the system operating through an extended outage.

The DC battery plant comprises of a bank of four, 110AH, 12 volt, valve regulated, sealed lead acid batteries. The cells are manufactured by Northstar Battery, and are model NSB-110FT.

Some further information on the battery plant:

• MSDS
• Application Manual
• Installation Manual
• Conductance Manual
• 20ºC Discharge Tables
• 25ºC Discharge Tables

Battery Plant	Batteries	Battery Termination Bus

Each of the batteries is terminated on the battery termination bus with #2AWG welding cable.

The battery termination bus is connected to the power distribution bay with #1/0AWG welding cable. This minimizes the voltage drop between the battery plant and the distribution bay, allowing for maximum efficiency.

The chargers are manufactured by Analytic Systems, and are model BCD1000R-110-12. We have two units installed, with their outputs running in parallel. Each is capable of 60A continuous output, giving us 1:1 redundancy.

Some further information on the battery plant:

• Datasheet

Battery Chargers	Charger Outputs

Again, the chargers are terminated to the power distribution bay with #2AWG welding cable to minimize voltage drop.

The battery plant is floated by the chargers all the time and the equipment is powered directly from the battery bank. With AC, all power for the equipment is supplied by the chargers. In the event of AC failure, the equipment keeps on operating on battery power.

Power distribution is by means of high current and low current fuse panels. The equipment (like PA's) that require high current are fed from 1-30A fuse blocks. The smaller loads are supplied through GMT type fuses. All the fuse panels incorporate fuse failure alarms, which are monitored by the RLC-3 Controller.

The chargers also also contain circuitry to monitor for A/C output failure, this too is fed to the RLC-3 for status monitoring.

Fuse Panels	Power Bay Rear

Testing has shown that under light to normal use we can get a number of days of operation on battery. If you consider that in a disaster situation the load on the system will dramatically increase, we should be able to hold on for a number of hours until an alternate power source can be found.