Hello!
I am a newly minted KX2 owner and this is my first post here - so be gentle J. So far, I am having a ball with the rig and enjoying discovering it's many features. Just before ordering the KXBT2 battery pack for the KX2, I called Elecraft and asked if the unit could be charged with a solar panel - I like backpacking with QRP. A few years ago (using a Hendricks PFR3 QRP rig), I found that a small folding solar panel and charge controller works well with a A123 LiPo 12V 3 Ah bat and saves me quite a bit of weight in my pack vs using gel cells. My practice is to charge one battery while using the another. I first contacted the bat distributor's tech person who said that it would charge just fine based on the specs for my small Morningstar charge controller.. the bats and folding panel weigh less than 1.5 lbs. Since the KXBT2 is a different voltage, I thought I should call Elecraft and ask if this setup would likewise work with it. Their rep told me that the KXBT2 should ONLY be charged via the provided AC charger. Now that I have one, I am delving a bit and found this: a " Venom 2-4 Cell AC/DC RC LiPo Dual Battery Balance Charger" on Amazon (designed for RC use). It is small and can charge 2-4 cells @ .1-3Amps and accepts 10-18VDC as well as AC. It could easily be set to match the 12.6V @ 2A output of the Tenergy AC charger. https://www.amazon.com/Venom-RC-Battery-Balance-Charger/dp/B00GYPG5JU/ref=sr _1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468956041&sr=8-2&keywords=12v+lipo+charger So, my question is: Has anyone tried charging their KXBT2 bat with a solar panel? ..or. do any of you foresee any issues using the above gear to charge the KXBT2? (Thinking out loud, I would think that some sort of charge controller specific to the KX line would be a popular accessory for Elecraft to make available, considering that portability is a main draw for this stuff) 73 - de John, K7HV ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to [email protected]
