[mythtv-users] Power outages and UPSs

[Michael T. Dean]

On 07/27/2007 08:22 PM, lionel dybowski wrote:
> I found a nice solution to UPS short life (mine only lasted 12 months 
> before it died completly)
> - mini itx MB
> - pico PSU from itx store (powered from 12VDC)
> - on board battery with a little bit of electronics to maintain battery 
> charge main supply
>   
...
> Moreover, it seems odd to convert mains to 12VDC for matteries, then 
> back to some forme of 240VAC, to get it back down to 12V and 5V with a 
> low efficiency computer power supply that generates noise and heat... 
> efficiency is pretty poor...

Yeah, that's the main reason I haven't already built the online power
supply.  I didn't realize that they even made DC-DC PSU's for computer
systems (other than laptops, of course).  But, your post inspired me to
search for some (the 120W picoPSU seems a bit small for my non-ITX
systems) and it seems that they're far more common than I realized (and
often built for in-car computer systems).

This one looks interesting:
http://www.opussolutions.net/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=48
(and 320W may actually handle the 2 HD-3000's and 3HDD's per backend I
have).  The 220W DSATX ( http://www.soltronixstore.com/Detail.bok?no=9
and http://www.soltronixstore.com/Detail.bok?no=9 and
http://www.mp3car.com/products/DSATX/DSATX_Manual.pdf ) may also work.

So, though a bit expensive, it would mean I don't need the inverter, so
I could make an UPS from a good battery (I've been looking at the
Concorde Lifeline GPL-31T :) and a good-quality, high-efficiency
benchtop power supply.  Unfortunately, the inverter is the cheapest part
of the system I was looking to build (and the DC-DC PSU is 6 times the
cost of it).  Wonder how long

Oh, and for Billy (who asked for a HOWTO), this is definitely a good
start: http://carnetix.com/regulators/how_to_coose_psu.html .

Time to get out the Kill-A-Watt and determine what PSU's (AC-DC and
DC-DC) I need and whether I can make it work.  Thanks for the
information, inspiration, and motivation.

Mike