Hindsight is wonderful. Had I known what my share options would be worth today, I wouldn’t have sold them 12 years ago and would be a lot richer. But I did sell them and enjoyed the money then. A work colleague sold his just before last Christmas and that’s why he drives a McLaren and I don’t.
And yes Steve, I should have bought 2x LiFE 4200 packs when I had the chance instead of just 1. Less of a problem as I can ‘slum-it’ with 3S LiPOs with the 817. I do think I’ll get another once (if?) they come back online.
It’s very expensive. You can make a 2100mAh pack using 2x 2S packs from Hobbyking using their UK warehouse for £31.15 inc shipping and they’re in stock.
I suggest bearing in mind that these batteries can provide enough power for 3 or 4 activations, especially with the KX3 which draws only 220 mA on receive, with dial lights on. So unless you need enough power for a long day of activating, a lower capacity battery might be no great loss in the short term. The imports from China will resume eventually and that may be a much better time to buy the larger capacity batteries. And you know, once you have 4 contacts in the log, you could turn the tx power down a bit and save even more power, if necessary for a later activation that day.
It’s a real shame there isn’t a 2100mAh version, it would be ideal for the KX2. I’ve started easing off the power on transmit as I find 8w instead of 10w gives me a lot longer before the power rolls back to 5w. My internal Lipo is getting tired, but I get about an hour and a half of continuous CW at 8w. At 3w you would get quite a few activations out of the internal Lipo as it is much more efficient below 3w.
73 de OE6FEG
Matt
I purchased this for use with my KX2 when I need to operate for 3-4 hours at 10 W:
Soldered/taped a simple balancer board to it so I can charge it with a lab power supply without fiddling with the balancer connector each time (with a small clear tape window so the LEDs on the balancer are still visible):
I also have a 1300 mAh version. Two months ago I used that one to make 132 QSOs over the course of almost three hours, mostly at 10 W (sometimes at 5).
The batteries from Hacker Motors may be more expensive than others, but the quality seems to be very good – I’ve never had issues with any of the several batteries that I have purchased from them over the last few years, and they also haven’t lost any significant capacity with time/use.
I can’t remember if Hobbyking ship Li based batteries from their EU warehouse to the UK because the 4200mAh 4S2P pack is in stock in Eu for £40.15 plus £6.06 registered tracked parcel shipping.
Hi Manuel
Many thanks for the link, ordered one 4 days ago and rxed yesterday
the coast was 49€ + 18€ UPS shipping
The price of quality I think, I’ll use this one on the next activation’s will be on F/MC, F/JU and FL/VO august 08 to 23.
73 Éric
Had a quick look at HobbyKing Australia (think HongKong supply) and my favourite LiFePo4 4200 and 8400mAH are still not available as yet.
Will have to make do with a 2000mAH SLA for the moment.
Hobby king EU showing out of stock this morning, like G4ZAO ordered yesterday.
Still struggling to find charger, will have to go Far East and buy bigger model than needed to get something in stock (not sure I can wait the 2-3 weeks shipping and another month for them to send it). Looks like global supply is an issue and still catching up.
Mine arrived now, Wed 1020 from their Netherlands warehouse. Ordered Friday 2130, I got a mail on Sunday saying order was being dispatched. It was delivered by Royal Mail ParcelForce and the box had a large label saying “Lithium Ion battery” with instructions not to pack it / ship it if the box was damaged. ParcelForce say they do not handle Lithium batteries unless attached to or with electronic devices.
" Batteries, specifically new and used lithium batteries when not sent with or connected to an electronic device. No "
My previous 4S1P came with 5.5mm bullet connectors, this one is bare wires with standard JST XH balance connector.
I found that my local Conrad store stocks the Hacker LiFePos:
The link works, don’t know why it’s saying 404. They have the advantage that you can order online and pick-up in-store, saving you the shipping costs. If you collect points or vouchers, you might get 10% off. Can’t wait to try mine out, but the weather has been awful over the weekend. Fingers crossed for Wednesday.
73 de OE6FEG
Matt