I use a 20W foldable PV panel by PowerFilm, model name F15-1200. For combined battery and charge controller I use a SunLoad.de M60, which can also be charged from a wallwart or a car CLA, and also provides a couple of USB ports to charge your phone etc. I have not noticed any noise from it, even though it uses MPPT. The wallwart is rather noisy, but you wouldn't use that outdoors anyway :)
Used this setup with my KX3 on a local field trip in April (which means a somewhat low sun here at 59deg latitude). I didn't operate much myself, but our local CW geek had a blast. And obviously the 20W panel was quite sufficient, as the M60 indicated a higher charge at the end of the day than it did at the beginning. In total this setup weighs around 2.5-3kg. If I needed to save weight, I'd look at skipping the charge controller and battery, and instead use a small voltage regulator/limiter of some sort, and rely on the internal batteries in the KX3 when the sun goes away. -- Jesper Henriksen On Fri, May 31, 2013 at 09:14:14PM -0700, Jim Bennett wrote: > Some time this summer I hope to add the KX3 to my small lineup of equipment. > Got a K3 several years ago and it's been a super radio. I sold an IC-756 Pro > III and a K2 in order to finance the K3. Well, I'm getting the camping urge > and want a radio to go with me. With the K2 gone, the KX3 is my choice. > > I have a 12Ah Sealed AGM battery (kind of heavy, but I'm not going > backpacking!) - I think it ought to be a fine power supply for a weekend of > radio in the field - or in the mountains. But, I'd like to have a PV panel > and charge controller to keep the battery peaked up. Not sure what size PV > panel or controller would be sufficient to keep a KX3 running on that battery > for a couple days. > > For those of you who have a KX3 and run it off of solar and battery, what are > you using, PV and controller wise? > > Jim / W6JHB > Folsom, CA (three miles from the Big House!) ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
