>
> Dear Ken:
>      I had no idea how complex the gererator problem is.  I think the
> Poor man's system is a stroke of genius.

Thank you.  I've been a survivalist (areas of specialization are nuclear
war, earthquakes, food storage, and water) for about 15 years, so I've
had lots of time to think about these things.

>      The batteries would be the "deep cycle" type such as used in RVs
> and Trolling motors?

Not familiar with RV, but trolling motors should be the deep cycle type
I would assume.

>       How many could I hook up in series to be charged?  Not get hot or
> burn out?

Okay, most common inverters are 12VDC input 120VAC (sort of) output.
You can put 2 6V batteries in series(attach the + of bat. A to the - of
bat. B) to get 12 V.
To increase amperage you can take 2 12V bats. in parellel (connect the +
of A to the + of B and the _ of A to the - of B)  Please note that you
can take two sets of 4 6V bats. that have been made into 2 12V systems
and parallel them.
As for the K.I.S.S., one big 12 V bat. is easier to work with than
multiple small bats.

BIG POINT! You can purchase batteries "dry". Two methods - Dry battery
with battery acid in bottle, or dry chemicals in battery add distilled
water to activate.  Lead acid batteries have a shelf life just like
flashlight batteries.  P.S. AAA, AA, C and D cells can be recharged by
one of those fancy  Buddy-L or better unit the EccoMultiCharger by
Saitek (which runs nicely on 6VDC at 500ma, get a zener diode to drop
the 12VDC to 6VDC)

>       Would a better inverter allow me more efficient AC power?  

I have not researched these recently but generally speaking the 
higher quality inverter draw a smaller percentage of power at idle
 than the cheapos.  I would just manually turn the inverter off when
 not needed.

>        I suppose a simple battery tester would let me know when the
> batts are fully charged?

If you have a battery where you can get in there and measure the
temperature and the density of the battery fluid with a hygrometer
(sp?), yes.  It might not need charging every day, but you SURE wouldn't
want the battery to go so low it can't start the car!!!  Having the car
on a big hill with manual transmission would be the only way out of that
problem, or a solar panel.  A small solar cell would make this system
better.  You could avoid the expense of an expensive solar charger
controller by just carefully measuring the charge of the battery and
doing a manual connect/disconnect on the solar cell.  BIG HINT!  A
"dead" battery in winter that can only make the starter go grunt, grunt,
can start the car if you bring it inside and slowly warm it up over
several hours and then reinstall.  ALSO!!!! warm batteries accept a
bigger charge easier and faster than cold batteries!!!  Storage
batteries should be kept warm (not hot!!).

>       You have been super helpful and generous with your time thanks.
>                                         Bill

Happy to be of service, I'll grab a survival manual I wrote for my kids'
school and forward that to you.