KX3 Batttery life question...and Internal Battery Compartment Design

[Mike Morrow-3]

I wrote:

> ...that any HF ham rig would be used in an emergency has been vanishingly
> small...

Wayne wrote:

> A few years ago a ham in Oregon broke his leg hiking. He used a KX1 to  
> call rescuers. I'm not kidding.

That was W7AU in 2008.  It was an impressive use of the KX1.  Another party
of hikers put the antenna up for him, he then let them proceed on.  Afterwards,
it took several hours of calling before getting a reply.  All in all, the
operation had some rough edges, had the emergency been really threatening!

I also have some similar real-life experience.  In 1998 on a solitary
day-hike in Alabama's Sipsey Wilderness, through mis-step I broke both
bones in my left lower leg.  

Such events are common every year, given the many millons of miles hiked
in thousands of remote locations in North America.  I just did what most
have always done...I crawled for what seemed a *real* long time until I got
to a trailhead.  I was far more thankful for the water I carried than for
the radio.  Fortunately some high school kids came by and got me to the
nearest hospital.  (No muss, no fuss, no rescue squads, no Forest Service
paperwork!)

> VHF/UHF doesn't work at all in many mountainous areas, at least if  
> you're down in a hole between peaks. For that matter, there are wide  
> stretches of the West with no repeaters.

I had my FT-50R HT, but no ham repeaters were accessible, nor was there
cell coverage.  Since my non-compound fractures were not all that serious,
I was not tempted to try use of Forest Service or Sheriff's Department
repeaters.

My point with this story is that these events are not rare.  When ham radio
helps, it seems always to be more a matter of convenience rather than having
any real effect on the *final* outcome.

BTW, if I'd have had an HF QRP rig with me, I still would not have attempted to
put it into service.  That would have been challenging and, more importantly,
potentially dangerous.  Simple breaks can easily become compound fractures during
the activity that would be required.

> I heard this on a shortwave station, thanks to the KX3's general
> coverage receive.

That capability is just one of the characteristics that make the KX3 such
an exciting product.  I hope to have mine before the Mayan Apocalypse,
which I understand is a state holiday in California. :-)

I wrote:

> An emergency HF radio would, in any event, need to be resistent to  
> harm from adverse environmental conditions *while in operation*.

Wayne wrote:

> Around here the most likely emergency that would cut off  
> communications is an earthquake. Small radios stored in bags are  
> likely to survive and be quite useful.

I did not mean to find fault in the hardening of the KX3 against adverse
environmental effects.  The vast vast majority of all commercial HF ham
transceivers ever made do no better, or not as well.

I wrote:

> An emergency HF radio should also *not* be a QRP rig...at least no rig
> *designated* as an emergency radio.

Wayne wrote:

> ...QRP will often get through. Even when it doesn't, it's fun trying.

But that's not the point of emergency service.  Power is *always* a blessing
in real emergency communications.  QRP success requires effort and skill on the
part of the receiving party, not the transmitting party (an awkward QRP'er's
secret).  Though, in an emergency it is the transmitting party that will be
the one hurt.

I wrote:

> An emergency HF radio should also have sufficient battery capacity for
> more than just a few hours of intermittent operation.

Wayne wrote:

> If my KX3 gives me 10 hours of casual operation at 3 watts...surely  
> I could maintain useful communications during an emergency by being  
> even more judicious with my transmit time.

Ah, yes.  But wouldn't it have been better to have stocked a 4 or 7 AH
SLA for external use?

Wayne wrote:

> That said, a small, collapsable solar panel would be an excellent  
> addition to the station. It can power the KX3's internal battery  
> charger.

That would be an excellent accessory in the Elecraft product line.

But this brings me back to what is, IMHO, *the* most important issue
of internal batteries.  I asked:

> What sort of chemical barrier will exist between the battery and the
> internals of the KX3 to prevent damage in the event of outgassing or
> leakage of chemical contaminants from the battery?  
>
> If there won't be an impermeable compartment, that alone says "Better
> keep the chemistry outside the radio!"

That is the **real** concern about internal batteries in *any* rig.

Thanks for your replies, Wayne.  I'm not in any way being critical of the
most stunningly impressive radio that has ever been proposed for the
hiking, camping, and backpacking ham.  It may take you all a year to work
through the initial order backlog!  My order will be there too.

73,
Mike / KK5F
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