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As mentioned in one of my last posts, the lithium ion battery that I had acquired from eBay arrived. There was a “return receipt, signature confirmation” slip in the mail box and I went and picked it up from the Post Office this morning.

Batteries sure are getting lighter and smaller!

The battery to the left is the very first sealed lead acid battery that I’ve ever used for portable field operations.  I’ve had this guy for about eight years now.  It’s a 7.2Ah battery, probably about 5 pounds (a tad more than 2 kilos)- about the weight of a bag of sugar (roughly). It came out of an emergency EXIT light that was in the building that I used to work at.  I saved it from the dumpster and there was (and still is) absolutely nothing wrong with it. Only drawback for field operations is the weight.

The middle battery is the one I’ve been using for about the last three years. It’s rated at 5Ah and is roughly half the weight of the big battery (approx. 2.5 pounds or about 1 kilo).

“Little Boy Blue” to the extreme right is the lithium ion battery. 9.8Ah and I would say, the same size as a pack of cigarettes.  It weighs less than a pound (less than 1/2 a kilo).  It came with a wall wart (not pictured) for charging, it has both male and female 3.5mm connectors for output; and it has a little switch on the left hand side with a tiny red LED indicator to let you know you have turned the battery “on”.

More capacity in a smaller, lighter package.  How cool is that?

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

No it’s not what you might think.  I did NOT get an e-mail from Elecraft telling me that my KX3 is on its way.

But I did find a slip in the mail asking me to come to the Post Office to sign for a package.  I checked out the tracking number and it’s the Lithium Ion battery that I got via eBay.  I know I have to be very careful charging it and all; but the smaller size and lighter weight will be a whole lot nicer than carrying around that sealed lead acid battery.

There is also the provision for using the internal battery holders; but I always get the heebie jeebies about batteries leaking and making a mess.  I don’t use them in my PFR3A. I did have them in my K1; but ended up taking them out.  When using internal batteries in the K1, you had to use a different speaker other than the original stock one.  It was smaller to accommodate the space that the batteries took up and I didn’t like the way that it sounded.  My K2 is always used with an external source.

Yes, it would be a lot more convenient to use the internal battery holders while out on a day hike; but the idea just doesn’t sit right with me.  Silly, I know; but what can I say?  I have repaired too many circuit boards in my day where the copper traces were eaten away from leaky electrolytic caps.  My brain knows the likelihood of that happening inside a KX3 are probably close to nil; but I still feel that I don’t need to tempt fate.

So for in home shack use, I rely on my Astron RS-35 power supply.  Yes, I know that a 35 Amp power supply is way overkill for QRP.  But it’s a fantastic analog power supply and I’ve had it for years.  I’ve even repaired it myself a couple of times.  I like to think of it as an old car with a carburetor that I can service myself, if need be.  Way easier than dealing with a switching power supply. 

I had my fill repairing those back in the days when I was in the photo industry.  The Broncolor studio strobes that I used to repair had switching power supplies.  They were good; but did they ever generate RFI!  I suppose that switching power supplies are a lot better than they used to be; but I know for a fact that my Astron generates no RFI at all – period.  As long as it delivers stable DC Voltage, it will be at the bottom of my bench.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Charles Preston, a member of the Buddipole User Group email reflector has just posted links to two clear and useful guides to using the A123 Battery Packs available from Buddipole. While the Buddipole site links to documents about the batteries there’s very little practical information available about how to nurture these batteries. Similarly the Cellpro Multi4 charger documentation is more geared to the primary market – radio controlled airplane enthusiasts – so it’s great to see advice directly relevant to our intended use.

The first document is a Guide for Buddipole A123 Battery Packs and it explains how to maintain them and likely operating times for popular transceivers. The core of the document is how to charge the A123 Packs using the Multi4 charger (also available from the Buddipole site). There’s also mention of how to approach charging the Battery Packs with a solar panel and mention of the Genasun GV-4 Li 14.2 V MPPT controller. BatterySpace.com also sell a version of this charger designed for LiFePO4 batteries. Prices between US$110-119.

It’s great to have all of this information available.

The second document is Charging a Buddipole 4S2P or 4S4P A123 battery pack with a Cellpro 10s charger and focusses on the larger charger.

Three cheers for Charles Preston!