After looking through several of the more recent posts on batteries I’ve got a sudden urge to buy a better battery supply than my two 12 V 2amp slab batteries. Some of the ones referred to in those posts are a little over what I was wanting to spend, a couple I couldn’t find, another was available only from the States etc.,
So:-
I was thinking about going down the 3cell AA lipo/li-on route, but thought my pocket money would/might be better spent on something like these, complete with battery charger too.
This last one is only 285g compared to the 700g of my slab batteries.
As I will probably operating from my camper van and be away from mains power for a few days at a time so I thought a larger capacity may well be of more practical use and involve less fiddling about than using small AA Li-on batteries for my HB1-B.
Thanks gents.
David (Hoping to make Scotland for my bonus points
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Hi David,
on both of those amazon URL links, I get the following message:
Secure Connection Failed
An error occurred during a connection to www.amazon.co.uk. PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR
The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because the authenticity of the received data could not be verified. Please contact the web site owners to inform them of this problem.
Not sure why. In any case what voltage do you need ? Does it have to be 13.8v or will that HB1-B run on say 10-11v without issues?
The best capacity vs price vs weight option I have found is 3S LIPO batteries. Yes they need a special charger but the other points compensate for this one time expense.
HobbyKing, Amazon or eBay are probably the quickest way to get something. I used 2.5Ah 3S LIPOs from Hobby King with my FT-817ND while I still had it and they worked very well (and fitted in the battery compartment).
These days I would make up a battery with branded 18650 cells from a reputable source. Many (most) of the battery packs on big webstores are not what they purport to be.
I’d avoid those anonymous packs like the plague - nowhere near enough info on what you actually get. And too good to be true - a 3S LiPo battery should weigh about 80 - 90g per amp hour.
The HB-1B should benefit from a 13.2V supply, so personally I would not go for a 3S LiPO. I run my HB-1A on a 4S LiFePO4 battery, though at 4200mAH mine are overkill. Of course these are the batteries that are currently on backorder at HobbyKing, so no easy and quick solution there!
In any case the others are also pointing you towards a 3S LIPO solution - either self-built or ready made. I do think this appraoch will give you the best “return on investment” while also being light.
Usual user reply - it works on other sites! In fact, it works on going to the home page of Amazon UK as well. So it’s something that Firefox doesn’t like on those particular links - as you say with whatever security settings that are set in Firefox.
Not worth wasting time on this browser error report as we are mostly in unison, suggesting David considers LIPO technology for his requirements.
2x 2S1P then. 2100mAHr in stock but shipped from EU.
I forget just how slow the Hobbyking site is… it must be run on a Spectrum with a Microdrive. Waiting for it to load significantly advanced me towards retirement.
It can charge 2-, 3- and 4-cell packs, and also measures the voltage of each cell when no input is connected. And it works from input 9 - 16V, handy for recharging in the car, when driving from one summit to the next.
Neither one nor the other. The details are massively embellished. The upper of the two offers only lasted for weeks with me and only reached a capacity of approx. 1000mAh.
I recommend the Panasonic 18650. A self-made pack with three cells has a significantly higher capacity than the Elecraft pack of my KX2.
I have a 6800mahour battery in the blue pvc as shown. It does not support high current draw well at all. A 3a*hour LiFePo is what I now use for my FT-817 with far better performance. About twice the price yet lasts longer in use. When I look at performance - the higher price is worth it.
Right! Thanks gents. I think thats a clear message.
I think I’ll go for the battery pack option.!!
And a special thanks for Andy for posting all the links to the bits and pieces I’ll need.
I’ll get one of the SOTA members in Scarborough ARS to sort me out with making up a pack when I get back from GM/ land. (I’ll probably be going to Scotland this Thursday! - Mrs P thinks I’m mad, but I’m getting cabin fever. )
Yes, the terminal voltage of the 3S LiPo will drop quite rapidly to around 11.5V, most of the battery’s capacity will be expended between 11.5 and 10.8 volts or so. Below about 10.8V the terminal voltage will plummet rapidly, if you intend using the battery to near exhaustion a low voltage alarm is very desirable.
Have a great time in GM and don’t use up all the good weather - Gerald G4OIG and I will be up there for a few days from next Tuesday
The built in battery is 3 cell LiPo, and does drop a a volt or two, after an hour at the summit. I’d be more than happy using external battery packs. The radio also has a built in Volt indicator, which I find useful.
Paul, Re the voltage drop below 10.8v, perhaps that would explain why one day the radio compltely cut out and went dead - until I got it home and plugged it into my mains adaptor!!??
Hopefully we’ll get an S2S. I’ll keep an eye out for alerts.
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