On Sun, 19 Apr 2015 18:51:52 -0700, markgrubb wrote:

Thanks, Dan. There seems to be a plethora of over-thinking on this
subject, but I could be wrong......

A little searching on RS, Farnells, and similar outlets will find break-
before-make changeover switches. If the momentary voltage drop as you
throw the switch causes problems, put a decently sized capacitor
(1000-2000 microfarad) across the output lines of the switch with a small
resistor 10-15 ohms) in series with it. The resistor may be unnecessary:
its mainly there to limit to power surge to about 1A when the battery is
connected and, as the panel only draws around 400mA with everything on,
is too small to cause a significant voltage drop while the switch is open
circuit.

The season before last I discovered that, if I kicked the XLR plug
feeding power to my panel when I was getting in, the momentary power drop
would switch my radio and main vario off Putting a 2000 microfarad
capacitoy and 10 ohm resistor across the panel side of the plug has been
a permanent cure.

I've watched it with a voltmeter across the panel side: it takes about a
second for the voltage to drop to zero when the battery is disconnected,
so the momentary disconnection if I kick the plug isn't nearly long
enough to drain the capacitor.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |