Been following the thread and have a suggestion. I have a LifePO4 battery and I use a solar charger that works from 10-16 VDC under load and charges the 12.8 VDC battery above. Here is the source website if you are interested. I made up a three way junction of the 2.5 mm plugs male and female to allow connection from the charger to the battery and the KX3. I can see the buck-boost function as the light changes on the panel. Hope this helps.
Mel. K6KBE http://www.batteryspace.com/12V-DC-Smart-Charger-1.5A-for-12.8V-LiFePO4-Battery-Pack-with-5.5x2.5mm.aspx On Monday, December 2, 2013 2:52 PM, George Dubovsky <[email protected]> wrote: I posed the question to one of the Engineers at Morningstar. His response, in part: *That said, for low power MPPT really isn't a huge requirement. The peak power of those panels listed is only 15.4V. When they are hot it will drop further too. SO charging a battery to 14.xV there is almost nothing to be gained by mppt (and its more expensive AND lower running efficiency.) Money is better spent on buying X more watts of panel w/ a cheaper control. You'll get more power out of it. The ProStar and SunSaver controls even have a on/off mode jumper that changes the switching from ~300Hz to <=1Hz. EMI isn't the problem there its the PSRR. At 300Hz current pulses from the panel, the battery voltage will jump up/down due to its internal resistance (which goes up as it gets full.) As you know, no one in the mobile RF world uses regulators on the P12 supply instead just running the amp transistors right off it. So you can get a 300Hz 'buzz' modulated into your audio pretty easily. The <1Hz doesn't charge quite as well but simply 'clicks' vs buzzes which people find much less objectionable in their audio. MPPTs switch so fast they have filtered DC coming out so you don't hear that. But they have conducted and radiated EMI. * FWIW... 73, geo - n4ua On Mon, Dec 2, 2013 at 3:33 PM, Igor Sokolov <[email protected]> wrote: > Dave, > Can you point to a "good" regulator and/or chjarger suitable for HF radio > use? > > 73, Igor UA9CDC > > >> Yes, very good. >> >> Alternative URL:- >> http://preview.tinyurl.com/mznv6e2 >> Goes to the same place as quoted above.. >> >> You can often find them on eBay too (for a price!) I have a 45W >> version. Take >> care though, in bright sunlight, they can produce well over 28V to an >> open cct or >> low power load. A good regulator is needed. Otherwise, very good, and >> very >> portable. >> >> Sadly, many of the "good" regulators (with MPPT functionality) are not >> exactly >> "RF quiet" for HF radio users. >> >> 73. >> >> Dave G0WBX. >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> 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 >> > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > ______________________________________________________________ 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 ______________________________________________________________ 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
