Hi don I have two laptops here, and both can be run from an external battery source. HOWEVER, I need to run them through a small inverter to bring the voltage up to around 13.8v. I checked this with my variable voltage bench power supply to find out where the laptop switched from external power to internal. It is usually above normal battery voltage by 1-2 volts, hence the small inverter.
I built the one from Sam Ulbing, N4UAU. It was written up in QST as "My All-Purpose Voltage Booster". He sells the kit for a very reasonable price. You can find him on the web under his call. I used mine on Field Day, and it was extremely quiet. Not a trace of hash anywhere. A side benefit in running on batteries in the field is that the converter is regulated. As the input voltage drops, the output stays pretty near constant. This would not be a problem in the shack with a fixed supply. I suggest you check your laptop using a variable voltage power supply and find out how low you can go before it switches over to the internal battery. Good luck and 73 Bob N6WG _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
