So it sounds like this controller would be fine for the camper but I should run the radio(s) off battery.
Beefier charge controller--- hard to make a decision since I'm picking them up tomorrow morning. I told him I'd research the controller and maybe buy that, too, but a bird in the hand, as they say... The price is nearly what I could get it for on Amazon, so it wouldn't kill me to wait if I had an alternative in mind. What should I browse for in controllers? MPPT... and "beefier" is what specs?
Thanks for all the quick responses..
Rick
The controller you are looking at is a PWM controller. This is the least efficient form of charge controller.
Only about 70% of the energy you capture with your panels will be available to charge your battery
It only handles 30 amps of charge current if you run the load directly from the battery.
If you run the load through the charge controller, it will handle 20 amps of charge current and 10 amps of load current.
If you have a choice, you really want an RF quiet MPPT controller. This is far more efficient than a PWM controller.
MPPT controller are able to supply 95% to 99% of the energy captured by your panels to charge the battery.
You also want to be able to handle 30 amps of load current, because your FT-857 wants around 20 amps of current to transmit at 100 watts.
The reason you want to be able to run the load through the charge controller is that it will prevent you from over discharging your battery, which
will reduce the number of charge/discharge cycles available over the life of the battery.
That's what I mean by a "beefier" controller.
If you are willing to reduce your transmitter output power to around 40 watts, you can get by with what you have.
This reduces the current requirements of the radio to a value your charge controller can handle.
Regardless of battery size, you must never exceed the current capacity of your charge controller.