When our club, the West Valley Amateur Radio Association, does
field day, we use many K3 and Flex transceivers. We run them
from 12 volt lead-acid batteries with solar power systems to top
up the batteries. We have had not had any significant problems
in any of SSB, CW, or Digital, although I think the the digital
stations have the heaviest battery drain. We have noticed that
before dawn, when the batteries are getting low, the IMD
increases and we get more QRM from other stations in our
operation. Swapping in a fresh battery always cures the problem.
Note that we run QRP, which helps with avoiding intra-station
QRM and boosts the score.
If I were buying batteries for portable/field operation today, I
would look at the Bioenno LiFePO4 batteries. Good power/weight
and power/size ratios and near full voltage until the end of
their capacity. The down side is they are more expensive the
lead-acid batteries.
73 Bill AE6JV
On 5/28/20 at 8:41 PM, j...@t6ee.com (John Kountz) wrote:
I have two K3 transceivers and have attempted to use them on
several Field Days with limited joy and unlimited
disappointment. I've attempted to use one or the other with
120 Watt solar cells and 100 AH GelCel and/or Lead Acid
batteries which had been charged beforehand. As long as there
is healthy sunlight and you have a duty cycle of between 10 and
15 percent transmission with 85 to 90
percent monitoring you'll have a functioning station.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Frantz | Ham radio contesting is a | Periwinkle
(408)348-7900 | contact sport. | 150 Rivermead
Rd #235
www.pwpconsult.com | --Ken Widelitz K6LA/VY2TT | Peterborough,
NH 03458
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