Hi Lea,
had a similar journey. Also have the 817. But the 817 is still consuming too much energy in RX mode for SOTA. 400mA is too much. KX2 is better, but it costs a lot more… also an option the thruSDX with a lower energy consumption.
73s
Ingo DH5ST
Hi Ingo,
I’m sure you will have worked out by now that the price of a few homebrew 4S Li-Ion 18650 batt packs is far far far lower than the price difference between a FT817 vs KX2.
73, Lea
Or use one of these and change the connectors. The FT817ND runs off these 3S packs for hours without a recharge!
(It fits into the battery compartment).
That £16 battery costs £30 to ship to the UK!
Hobbyking has a UK warehouse - so shipping shouldn’t be that much, my earlier link was to the European warehouse and importing stuff into (or out of) the UK since BREXIT has become uneconomic - with the shipping/customs charges.
Just looked and there is only stock in the EU and Global (Singapore) warehouses, so you’d need to wait until they restock in the UK.
73 Ed.
Unfortunately Hobbyking has closed its UK warehouse.
And if you are in the UK they don’t offer anything from the EU warehouse. Brexit keeps on giving.
There’s always a way… find SOTA person who lives in EU who is visiting Friedrichshafen rally, you pay them and they buy battery and get it shipped to their home, they bring battery to FN Rally, You collect battery from them in person when you go to the rally.