Sounds like you have all the info you have, but adding… I always am worried about traveling with mine, but never have had an issue. I carry the battery in one of those lipo safe battery bags and make sure the leads are taped down.
Interesting story… on our spring trip back from Palm Springs, CA, we were in a rush through security at the airport. We did have TSA PreCheck, so I just tossed my laptop backpack on the xray conveyor and went through. Within the bag, in a vertical sandwich, was my 14" laptop, 8" tablet, KX3 full of NiMH AA’s and a 2200mAh LiPO all piled on top of each other. Not a peep out of the scanner agent! I usually panic about it for nothing it seems!
Hi Kent,
As Arnaud suggests, it seems that it’s best to ask your airline for specifics as implementation of the rules seems to vary from airline to airline.
Make sure all terminals on the battery are well taped up, so the inspector sees them as “well insulated”.
Also as regards SOTA activations some of the summits in the area have been removed from the scheme as they do not meet the P150 requirement, The closest summit to Friedrichshafen - Gehrenberg is still valid however and if you are interested, I have arranged a group activation of this summit from around 16:30 on the Saturday, prior to the SOTA Dinner. If the only reason you are bringing your SOTA gear is to be able to get a new association (DM in this case) then as I (and others) will be bringing gear along, you are welcome to share and hence avoid the problem of getting through airport security with gear and batteries. Of course if you plan to activate multiple summits while in Europe, this wont help.
Here’s my recent post on “SOTA-Saturday” at Friedrichshafen -
Here’s another experience to add to the collection: Zürich - Dubai - Brisbane - Nouméa, on Emirates and Aircalin, travelling with two Zippy 4200 mAh LiFePOs, with taped connectors and in separate plastic bags. Carry-on bag with laptop, tablet, Garmin InReach and various chargers and cables. Rig, amplifier, antenna, HT etc. all in checked baggage.
Zürich
I put the Zippy batteries on the belt separately without being asked. The two ladies at the X-ray monitor took a look at them, turned them around, spotted the “55.44 Wh” stickers that I had helpfully put on the batteries (can’t expect people to successfully multiply V x A these days ;)), nodded to each other, and the batteries were through. However, my bag had to go through the machine again after removing some of the small electronics for separate scanning.
Dubai
After reading some of the reports here and in other forums on the net, I pretty much expected transit security to take away my batteries. As instructed by the security staff at the checkpoint that you have to pass through once you get off the plane and before you enter the terminal, I only took my laptop out of my bag and left everything else, including the batteries, in the bag. Nothing happened – my bag came out of the machine, I grabbed it and, as John @VK6NU had put it, “continued on my merry way”. Perhaps I was just lucky, or they have changed their focus again. I did not spot any “no batteries” stickers around the scanners. There was another, very improvised security check at the gate, consisting of three security staff with wobbly little tables. It looked like a token exercise, as “my” security guy just had a cursory look inside my bag, and didn’t even take out my jacket to discover the batteries below it.
Brisbane
Had to check in again here for my flight to Nouméa after a one-day stopover. Nobody batted an eyelid at the Zippys, but the Garmin InReach raised some suspicion (“Is that a walkie-talkie?!”). Quick swab/scan for explosives at the end.
Edinburgh > Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and return, November 2017
Usual bag of stuff, 817, 2x LiPo in Lipo bags, assorted USB chargers, USB cables, 2x USB power banks, diabetic syringe needles, finger lancets, tablet computer, 2x compact cameras. Bag with batteries in 1st tray, phone, tablet, cameras, 817, watch, money in second tray, jacket & belt in third tray. No problems. Not very busy so they could have gone to town.
Never seen anything pass through the scanner so fast as on the return trip!
Left wire antennas in the bag and a handheld (relieved to see it on the x-ray as I couldn’t find it when I delved in!). They didn’t like that much, and it got a swabbing.
Singapore -> Sydney - only interested in laptops
Sydney -> Singapore - Everything laid out for them. Running repair on mic cable (broken RJ45 plug) => lots of electrical tape. They weren’t too keen on that. LiFePO4 drew attention. I think he was trying to read the label to check the capacity. But it was my Czech Army Morse key which drew the most suspicion. Why? No idea, but it’s got some gaffer tape on it.
Singapore -> Heathrow - still only interested in laptops
Heathrow -> Manchester - all laid out for them - no problems