I've been reading the technical literature lately and have been following
an interesting development: ultracapacitors. These components are on the
order of 5K to 20K Farads. So I did a little calculating.
1F = 1V * 1 Coulomb.
1 Coulomb = 1 Ampere Second
Thus 1F = 1V * 1 Amp Second.
5000 F / 12 V = 416 2/3 Amp Seconds.
416 2/3 Amp Seconds / 0.5 A = 833 seconds or 13.8 minutes.
If I have done this correctly you should be able to run a QRP rig key down
for approximately 14 minutes with a fully charged 5K Farad
ultracapacitor. From what I have been reading these are getting cheaper
via economies of scale and from engineering breakthroughs in dielectric
and storage plate materials. The storage plates are activated charcoal
plated on aluminum strips and wound into a can filled with electrolyte.
The electrolyte material, acetonitrile, is the rub however. If it burns
cyanide gas is produced in dangerous quantities. Nanotube technology and
more recent electrolyte chemisty advances are offering even greater
capacitance in smaller packages.
One day we may be running our rigs from ultracapacitors instead of
batteries. They recharge extremely rapidly. They store charge for a long
period of time. And they discharge at rates that put the best batteries
to shame. If you need high amperage devices (think your 100 watt rig on
transmit) these will fill the bill.
Since electrochemical devices are reaching their limits this may be the
next mobile power storage device.
Kevin. KD5ONS
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