Eveready super heavy duty batteries are simple Zinc Carbon cells developed from the leclanche cells of the 19th century, they are basically low capacity and of dubious value. They are also prone to electrolyte leakage when discharged with resulting damage to the battery holders and surrounding electronics. I would strongly recommend that they are not used in anything other than simple cheap disposable flashlights.
Alkaline batteries have significantly better performance (up to 6 times depending on load characteristics), however by far the best performing batteries in capacity and discharge characteristics are the Lithium batteries recommended by Spot. Yes they are expensive but if you "do the math" as our American friends like to say, it is worth spending the extra money to achieve the performance. John Parncutt _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Switala Sent: Wednesday, 14 January 2009 5:38 PM To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.' Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Australian Multi Class Nationals - Glidertracking - Day 2 Peter Initially I was told that the Lithium batteries were not required for the reasons Scott Penrose raised. So I purchased some "average" quality batteries, Eveready Super Heavy Duty. We got low battery lights on the first day of use! I don't know the science of the different batteries but we're installing some lithiums in the units for tomorrow onward. We'll see what happens! If the batteries do run out there is absolutely no requirement for the pilot to change batteries in flight. We just won't be able to track that aircraft - like the good ole days! The biggest problem, outside of battery failure, seems to be the spot start process. It's only two buttons but seems difficult to get right for some. It's understandable though, when your main focus is flying a competition task. Regards John _____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Peter Stephenson Sent: Wednesday, 14 January 2009 4:19 PM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Cc: DDSC chat Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Australian Multi Class Nationals - Glider tracking - Day 2 John, have you any idea how long the batteries last on continuous tracking? Spot specify not cheap Lithium batteries ($8.95 a pair of AA Lithium Energisers at my chemist next door) only and we have been discussing how long they last. Changing them in mid-air is a bit fiddly and probably dangerously impairing good look-out. PeterS PeterS John Switala wrote: Guys Spot tracking devices have been installed in all gliders in the 18 metre and Open classes for Day 2 of the Australian Multi Class Nationals being held at Benalla, Victoria. Yesterday we had a few pilots who forgot to turn on the spots and a couple of failures due to low batteries, so not all gliders were shown. The ones that were on the track maps gave us a good look at what was happening out there! There are 8 gliders in Open class and 12 gliders in 18 metre. The link for Open class is: http://track.glidingmaps.com/event/multiclass09-open/current/display The link for 18 metre class is: http://track.glidingmaps.com/event/multiclass09-18m/current/display Launch time is 2:15pm. Class launch sequence is: Standard, 18M, 15M, then Open. The original task set for the day was a 720km fixed task, but the temperature didn't break the inversion so a delay was called. The B task was selected but the day again did not prove to be cooperative. Then the wind changed affecting the runway selection. The gliders have been re-gridded and a C task determined. The task is an AAT (Assigned Area Task) of 3 hours duration for all classes in the comp The task is: Benalla Boree Creek - 30 kilometre radius area Deniliquin - 70 kilometre radius area Glenrowan - 15 kilometre radius area Benalla Minimum distance is 319 kilometres; Maximum distance is 709 kilometres. Weather forecast is a blue day, temperature 41C in Benalla. Thermal strengths should be an average of 8-10 knots over the task. Heights forecast are 10,000-12,000 feet. Wind is currently Northerly to change in the late afternoon to more westerly. Browsers to use are Firefox or Safari. Internet Explorer does not function well. Thanks to New South Wales Gliding through the Narromine Club for the loan of their 10 spot devices. Thanks also to John Wharington and Scott Penrose for the development effort for glider tracking. John Switala Ops Director _____ _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
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