The question is about what you would pay for the battery, shipping prices and feasibility are not included. The battery is a 4S1P with a BMS. You would still need a LiFePo aware charger.
The battery is for use as an external battery for KX2, FT817/818, IC-705 style radios where you could expect about 2-3hrs activating. (Depends on radio and activity levels)
The most I would pay for a 2300mAhr pack for £17.50
The most I would pay for a 2300mAhr pack for £20.00
The most I would pay for a 2300mAhr pack for £22.50
The most I would pay for a 2300mAhr pack for £25.00
Okay now we are in game.
I would use 3x 18650 cells. They are cheap and u can repleace them.
Even if you are going for a 3 days hike u can bring even more with u.
Total cost:
4€ for the charging powerbank (Yes u can use it also as powerbank for your phone)
3€ for the 3S battery holder. U can build also your own 4S holder with BMS for a few €.
Cells 0-5€. I recycled mine. so for free.
If u need a bit higher Voltage and u need also more capacity u can get an 12V 7AH LiFePO4 Battery.
What Radio are u using? FT817, KX2 , IC705 or all 3?
The capacity you are referring to is about ideal… I have often wished I could cut my 4200mAH batteries in half. Getting this size of LiFePO4 battery is a bit like searching for rocking horse droppings, at least on the retail market where only a small quantity would be purchased. They can be obtained in larger quantities, but it would require quite a few people to club together to make up an order to keep the price down.
I suppose for a small quantity, the most sensible option would be to put two 2S1P batteries in series. The cost would be around £16 - £17 plus postage per pair. This then introduces the faff of having to charge two batteries each time or making up a balance charge adaptor.
I tend to use 3S 2200mAH LiPO batteries to power my FT-817 and KX3, but they will need replacement sometime. I am already falling back on my stock of 4000mAH LiPOs bought in 2009. Will those things never die?
To find out what people will pay, quite simple really. The lower the price the more people will be interested.
If you need something the price matter less, you need it so you pay what it costs. But if you want one because it would be nice to have a spare say, then there comes a point when it is too expensive to buy because it is not needed.
i.e. at £20 you would definitely buy one because it is a bargain. At £25 you probably would buy one but would think about it. At £50 you would only buy one if you really, really needed it.
Ok now I understand, you want to sell them. Well, personally I would put up to 25€. When you compare to other technologies, it’s acceptable.
But price would be secondary in a way, my first concern would be the weight. I could imagine replacing my lipo with lifepo but when I look at weights, I’m discouraged.
No, not really. I don’t think the returns available on selling Lithium batteries are worth the hassle. Simply shipping them about the UK is expensive and difficult never mind selling into mainland Europe.
What may be feasible is arranging group purchases in which one person buys a number of items in bulk and has one (expensive) delivery cost and then the group meet up for a SOTA weekend. They get to play SOTA, meet their SOTA friends, eat and drink together and collect their new batteries.
But to do that you need to know if people are interested and what prices they will pay.
Looked at this when I had SOTABEAMS. It was a non-starter. The insurance requirements and cost for storage of bulk batteries wasn’t worth it. And shipping was going to be expensive and problematic.
I didn’t realise it was a group purchase offer. I actually use 3S 18650’s for my KX2, QMX, QDX. I have three packs, which usually lasts an entire holiday. ie away from home without a charger.
It’s market research at the moment. As Richard says doing it a la Hobbyking on a small scale isn’t viable. But it may be/should be possible to arrange a group purchase. There are other ideas that can be done and leave the sourcing the actual cells to the purchaser.
I have plenty of 18650 LiIon cells that are used when travelling by plane. Into the USB powerpack to get through security and into a custom cell holder for powering the radio. It’s mature and solved technology. In general, LiFePO seem better and are a much lower fire risk. So I’d like to replace LiIon with LiFePO where possible (and with minimal cost).
I don’t really need more as I have 2x small LiIon packs made from ex-vape cells for my QCX setup and there are about another 60 LiIon ex-vaps cells here in the shack looking for an application.
I’ve been using the UltraMax LiFePo 7Ah with my X6100 and now IC-705. The weight isn’t an issue but the bulk will become more of a hassle in the winter, I feel half the capacity would be enough too. Was going to check on here for alternatives.
I have been using the Zippy/HobbyKing 4200mAh LifePo for most of my SOTA HF activations until recently (and the 8400mAh version in case I wanted to squirt out a bit more RF on VHF).
Even on a multi-day trip, there has been no need to re-charge, but I’ve come to the conclusion that two is one and one is none. So I ordered a two pack of 2200mAh 3S LiPos from Amazon in the UK; normal price is £44 for both but they run a 30% off discount regularly (still running until Sep 20).
The HobbyKing 4200mAh is 597g, whilst both 2200 LiPos weigh 292g together.
I used them during my 2 week SOTA trip in DM/BM & FL/VO recently and very pleased with them.
I understands the benefits of LifePos and would be interested, but size/weight would perhaps be as important as price.
Now fixed (or soon will be.)
As Richard says doing it a la Hobbyking on a small scale isn’t viable. But it may be/should be possible to arrange a group purchase. There are other ideas that can be done and leave the sourcing the actual cells to the purchaser.