Elecraft › [KX3]

KX3 Batttery life question..

Classic

List

Threaded

12 messages Options

Dave KK7SS

KX3 Batttery life question..

Is there any feedback from the Beta Tester(s) regarding battery life under operational conditions?

Inquiring minds, etc...

--
Dave G KK7SS
Richland, WA

'59 Morris Minor 1000 - working on it..
'65 Sprite - in process :(
'76 Midget - co-owned with #4 Son :)
'06 Honda Civic Hybrid
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

wayne burdick

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

Administrator

Field testing hasn't officially started yet, other than testing of the
four units in use by the design team. But I can give you some estimates.

Receive-mode current drain will typically be 130-170 mA depending on
supply voltage, backlight level, whether the preamp is on, etc. So a
2500 milliamp-hour internal 8-AA battery pack would provide an average
of about 16 hours of continuous use. This is 2 to 3 times what you'd
get with other small all-band/all-mode radios that consume ~350-450 mA
in receive mode.

Transmit current varies with power level, band, supply voltage and
other factors, but in general it's about 1 amp at 5 watts and 2 amps
at 10 watts. At 10 W, you could probably run for 10-20 hours from a
12V 7AH battery, assuming typical hunt-and-pounce or casual operation.

Transceive operating time from an internal battery will be determined
by voltage or energy-density limitations of the 8 AA cells being used.
You'd probably be transmitting something like 10% of the time (good
QRP practice). Assuming a 2500 mA-hr pack, 1 A current drain in TX
mode, and 150 mA RX, you might get as many as 10 hours of casual
operation.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

On Aug 26, 2011, at 10:13 AM, Dave KK7SS wrote:

> Is there any feedback from the Beta Tester(s) regarding battery life
> under operational conditions?
>
> Inquiring minds, etc...
>
> --
> Dave G KK7SS
> Richland, WA
>
> '59 Morris Minor 1000 - working on it..
> '65 Sprite - in process :(
> '76 Midget - co-owned with #4 Son :)
> '06 Honda Civic Hybrid
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Jim Wiley-2

Ed Cole

Ed Cole, KL7UW, please contact me off list

Jim, KL7CC

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Dave KK7SS

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Wayne,

Fabulous <VBG>
Sounds perfect for the operating conditions I'm considering - portable, 5W, internal pack, 2M, ATU and ???

Many thanks... (still drooling!)

--
Dave G KK7SS
Richland, WA

'59 Morris Minor 1000 - working on it..
'65 Sprite - in process :(
'76 Midget - co-owned with #4 Son :)
'06 Honda Civic Hybrid

----- "Wayne Burdick" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Receive-mode current drain will typically be 130-170 mA depending on
> supply voltage, backlight level, whether the preamp is on, etc. So a
> 2500 milliamp-hour internal 8-AA battery pack would provide an average
> of about 16 hours of continuous use. This is 2 to 3 times what you'd
> get with other small all-band/all-mode radios that consume ~350-450 mA
> in receive mode.
>
> Transmit current varies with power level, band, supply voltage and
> other factors, but in general it's about 1 amp at 5 watts and 2 amps
> at 10 watts. At 10 W, you could probably run for 10-20 hours from a
> 12V 7AH battery, assuming typical hunt-and-pounce or casual operation.
>
> Transceive operating time from an internal battery will be determined
> by voltage or energy-density limitations of the 8 AA cells being used.
> You'd probably be transmitting something like 10% of the time (good
> QRP practice). Assuming a 2500 mA-hr pack, 1 A current drain in TX
> mode, and 150 mA RX, you might get as many as 10 hours of casual
> operation.

wayne burdick

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

Administrator

Dave KK7SS wrote:

> Fabulous <VBG>
> Sounds perfect for the operating conditions I'm considering -
> portable, 5W, internal pack, 2M, ATU and ???
>

Hi Dave,

As I mentioned awhile back, the internal 2-meter option and the
internal ATU are probably going to be mutually-exclusive. You could
always use an Elecraft T1 miniature wide-range ATU if you needed both
at the same time.

That said, we're going to experiment with a very low-power-output 2-m
transverter that might be small enough to include with the internal
ATU. No guarantees.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Oliver Dröse

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

Hi Wayne,

please don't sacrifice performance. The internal 2 m transverter should at
least have 5 watts output to be useful for normal 2 m applications, 10 W
would be even better but I'm not sure this is doable with the space limits.
;-))

A very low power 2 m transverter (10 mW?) is probably not of much use to
those who need the transverter for 2 m portable ops (which is very popular
in Europe btw.) and these might be the majority of guys wanting the internal
transverter. Yes, there are those guys wanting to use it as a microwave I/F
radio (me too) which makes perfect sense but especially in this use-case the
antenna-tuner für HF is usually not needed ;-)). So therefor I would rather
prefer a top notch "normal" transverter with 5 or 10 W (and the possibility
to set power as low as 1 or 10 mW for transverter use) and use a T1
externally if I ever needed an antenna matching unit in parallel with the
internal transverter.

If you'll provide both an internal "high power" 2 m transverter module *and*
(alternatively) an internal ATU with 2 m "low power" included I will be a
happy camper but can still imagine there are folks who don't want to pay for
the "low power" 2 m part in the ATU so you would need a 3rd option being
just the tuner without transverter. Not sure that is a good business choice
but that is up to you, of course. ;-)) Just wondering if it is worth all the
efforts and time investments.

But I guess you can never please all at once. ;-)) Anyway, good luck and
have fun with the designing tasks.

73, Olli - DH8BQA - Elecraft K3 #4546 w/ K144XV

> As I mentioned awhile back, the internal 2-meter option and the
> internal ATU are probably going to be mutually-exclusive. You could
> always use an Elecraft T1 miniature wide-range ATU if you needed both
> at the same time.
>
> That said, we're going to experiment with a very low-power-output 2-m
> transverter that might be small enough to include with the internal
> ATU. No guarantees.

______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

AC7AC

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

CONTENTS DELETED

The author has deleted this message.

wayne burdick

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

Administrator

In reply to this post by Oliver Dröse

We were thinking along the lines of 200-500 mW for the "micro
transverter", if it's even possible. The regular transverter option
could be as high as 5 W. We'll see.

Wayne
N6KR

On Aug 26, 2011, at 1:57 PM, Oliver Dröse wrote:

> Hi Wayne,
>
> please don't sacrifice performance. The internal 2 m transverter
> should at
> least have 5 watts output to be useful for normal 2 m applications,
> 10 W
> would be even better but I'm not sure this is doable with the space
> limits.
> ;-))
>
> A very low power 2 m transverter (10 mW?) is probably not of much
> use to
> those who need the transverter for 2 m portable ops (which is very
> popular
> in Europe btw.) and these might be the majority of guys wanting the
> internal
> transverter. Yes, there are those guys wanting to use it as a
> microwave I/F
> radio (me too) which makes perfect sense but especially in this use-
> case the
> antenna-tuner für HF is usually not needed ;-)). So therefor I would
> rather
> prefer a top notch "normal" transverter with 5 or 10 W (and the
> possibility
> to set power as low as 1 or 10 mW for transverter use) and use a T1
> externally if I ever needed an antenna matching unit in parallel
> with the
> internal transverter.
>
> If you'll provide both an internal "high power" 2 m transverter
> module *and*
> (alternatively) an internal ATU with 2 m "low power" included I will
> be a
> happy camper but can still imagine there are folks who don't want to
> pay for
> the "low power" 2 m part in the ATU so you would need a 3rd option
> being
> just the tuner without transverter. Not sure that is a good business
> choice
> but that is up to you, of course. ;-)) Just wondering if it is worth
> all the
> efforts and time investments.
>
> But I guess you can never please all at once. ;-)) Anyway, good luck
> and
> have fun with the designing tasks.
>
> 73, Olli - DH8BQA - Elecraft K3 #4546 w/ K144XV
>
>
>
>> As I mentioned awhile back, the internal 2-meter option and the
>> internal ATU are probably going to be mutually-exclusive. You could
>> always use an Elecraft T1 miniature wide-range ATU if you needed both
>> at the same time.
>>
>> That said, we're going to experiment with a very low-power-output 2-m
>> transverter that might be small enough to include with the internal
>> ATU. No guarantees.
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

M0XDF

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Ah - good news since ATU is paramount to me, but 2m is important too
73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #108, KX3 #???
--
Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity.
But I'm not so sure about the universe. -- Albert Einstein.

On 26 Aug 2011, at 21:34, Wayne Burdick wrote:

Jessie Oberreuter-2

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Hard choices all around! I, too, am looking forward to having a
single rig that I can use for HF-2m field ops, and would end up giving up
the ATU for 2m. 'Course, I'd rather give up the internal batteries and
have both 2m and an HF ATU :). Everyone's style is different.

On Fri, 26 Aug 2011, Wayne Burdick wrote:

> Dave KK7SS wrote:
>
>> Fabulous <VBG>
>> Sounds perfect for the operating conditions I'm considering -
>> portable, 5W, internal pack, 2M, ATU and ???
>>
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> As I mentioned awhile back, the internal 2-meter option and the
> internal ATU are probably going to be mutually-exclusive. You could
> always use an Elecraft T1 miniature wide-range ATU if you needed both
> at the same time.
>
> That said, we're going to experiment with a very low-power-output 2-m
> transverter that might be small enough to include with the internal
> ATU. No guarantees.
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

Dave KK7SS

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

"No Guarantees"?? No Sweat ! <Grin>
I'm sure I'll be able to live with whatever comes out of the think-tank ;)

--
Dave G KK7SS
Richland, WA

'59 Morris Minor 1000 - working on it..
'65 Sprite - in process :(
'76 Midget - co-owned with #4 Son :)
'06 Honda Civic Hybrid
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Don Wilhelm-4

Re: KX3 Batttery life question..

Make that the "possible-practical tank". The "think-tank" can contain
many things that are great ideas, but are not possible given the
limitations of cost to the end-buyer coupled with the profits due to the
developers. We have to live in the real world, and that is not the
ideal world in all cases. All designs have constraints. I would like
to have a 1.5 KW amp in an enclosure of 3 cubic inches - while that is
possible IF I can get rid of the heat, it is just not practical at
ambient temperatures.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 8/26/2011 8:08 PM, Dave KK7SS wrote:

> "No Guarantees"?? No Sweat !<Grin>
> I'm sure I'll be able to live with whatever comes out of the think-tank ;)
>
> --
> Dave G KK7SS
> Richland, WA
>
> '59 Morris Minor 1000 - working on it..
> '65 Sprite - in process :(
> '76 Midget - co-owned with #4 Son :)
> '06 Honda Civic Hybrid
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>