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OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

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wayne burdick

OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

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I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for light backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging, natural-power use of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly to automotive-style USB chargers works great when the sun is shining.

My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker off for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)

To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest battery pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time the PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11 to 12 V minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the radios.

I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but I'd prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable, and reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?

tnx

Wayne
N6KR

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Logan Zintsmaster

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

I think a West Mountain Epic Powergate will meet your needs.

Logan, KE7AZ
Entropy is winning.

> On Jan 4, 2020, at 3:25 PM, Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for light backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging, natural-power use of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly to automotive-style USB chargers works great when the sun is shining.
>
> My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker off for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)
>
> To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest battery pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time the PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11 to 12 V minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the radios.
>
> I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but I'd prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable, and reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?
>
> tnx
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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Mark Goldberg

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Contact my friend Harry at [hidden email] (
https://squareup.com/store/wirlnet-com). He builds larger systems, but may
have a smaller one too. In any case, he knows the lay of the land and what
is good and what is not. Tell him I sent you.

I use 12V LiFePO4s which keep the voltage up (>12V) much longer than Lead
Acid and weigh less. I've got them in sizes from 3 Ah for backpacking with
my KX3 to 400 Ah in our RV running my KX3 and a big inverter for my KPA500.
Morningstar has a bang bang mode on some solar controllers that don't
output much RFI.

73,

Mark
W7MLG

On Sat, Jan 4, 2020 at 3:24 PM Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for light
> backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging, natural-power use
> of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly to automotive-style USB
> chargers works great when the sun is shining.
>
> My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker off
> for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)
>
> To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest battery
> pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without
> intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous
> charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time the
> PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11 to 12 V
> minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the radios.
>
> I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but I'd
> prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable, and
> reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?
>
> tnx
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
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>

n6lrv

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Uh boy, this thread is bound to hit the max replies bell real quick!

Reasonably priced is up to you Wayne but for proven and reliable I recommend products from <https://www.morningstarcorp.com/>. At my place of work we have several of their MPPT and PWM controllers in service, some as much as 10 years now. I use their Prostar PWM controller on my personal standalone system with a 100 watt panel and a modest lead acid battery. In my experience their more compact Sunsaver products work well too and both are available on Amazon.

I can't stress this enough - match your controller to your chosen battery chemistry as best you can. There are many controllers available today that support lithium, LiFePO4, NiMH, etc. Plenty of info is available online including sites like <https://solarpoweredhamradio.com/> , <http://ki0bk.no-ip.com/~pwrgate/LLPG/Site/Solar.html> , <https://www.bioennopower.com/collections/solar-controllers> , <http://www.westmountainradio.com/dc_power.php> just to name a few.

73,
Gary, N6LRV

________________________________
From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> on behalf of Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2020 2:24 PM
To: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]>
Subject: [Elecraft] OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for light backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging, natural-power use of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly to automotive-style USB chargers works great when the sun is shining.

My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker off for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)

To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest battery pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time the PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11 to 12 V minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the radios.

I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but I'd prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable, and reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?

tnx

Wayne
N6KR

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Igor Sokolov-2

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

For several years I have been using 5.5 AH (for KX3) or 25 AH (for K3)
LiFePo4 batteries, charging them with 1 or 2 60W portable folding solar
panels using GENASUN MPPT rf quiet controller. This controller is highly
recommended.

In reality a pair of the above panels were squeezing maximum of 5.5 A.

73, Igor UA9CDC

05.01.2020 3:24, Wayne Burdick пишет:

> I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for light backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging, natural-power use of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly to automotive-style USB chargers works great when the sun is shining.
>
> My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker off for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)
>
> To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest battery pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time the PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11 to 12 V minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the radios.
>
> I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but I'd prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable, and reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?
>
> tnx
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
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>
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> .

Grant Youngman-2

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

I second the GENASUN. And they have the advantage of being RF dead quiet.

Grant NQ5T

> On Jan 4, 2020, at 6:48 PM, Igor Sokolov <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> For several years I have been using 5.5 AH (for KX3) or 25 AH (for K3) LiFePo4 batteries, charging them with 1 or 2 60W portable folding solar panels using GENASUN MPPT rf quiet controller. This controller is highly recommended.
>
> In reality a pair of the above panels were squeezing maximum of 5.5 A.
>
> 73, Igor UA9CDC
>
> 05.01.2020 3:24, Wayne Burdick пишет:
>> I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for light backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging, natural-power use of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly to automotive-style USB chargers works great when the sun is shining.
>>
>> My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker off for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)
>>
>> To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest battery pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time the PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11 to 12 V minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the radios.
>>
>> I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but I'd prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable, and reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?
>>
>> tnx
>>
>> 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
>> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>> .
> ______________________________________________________________
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Paul Van Dyke

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

Hi Wayne

From many Dxpeditions in the Caribbean with a 100watt panel ... here is my
pick

https://www.buddipole.com/powermini.html
and the Powerfilm Solar has checked it and they say it's one of the
cleanest they have seen
73s
Paul KB9AVO

On Sat, Jan 4, 2020, 8:23 PM Grant Youngman <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I second the GENASUN. And they have the advantage of being RF dead quiet.
>
> Grant NQ5T
>
> > On Jan 4, 2020, at 6:48 PM, Igor Sokolov <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> > For several years I have been using 5.5 AH (for KX3) or 25 AH (for K3)
> LiFePo4 batteries, charging them with 1 or 2 60W portable folding solar
> panels using GENASUN MPPT rf quiet controller. This controller is highly
> recommended.
> >
> > In reality a pair of the above panels were squeezing maximum of 5.5 A.
> >
> > 73, Igor UA9CDC
> >
> > 05.01.2020 3:24, Wayne Burdick пишет:
> >> I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for
> light backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging,
> natural-power use of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly to
> automotive-style USB chargers works great when the sun is shining.
> >>
> >> My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker
> off for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)
> >>
> >> To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest
> battery pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without
> intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous
> charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time the
> PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11 to 12 V
> minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the radios.
> >>
> >> I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but
> I'd prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable,
> and reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?
> >>
> >> tnx
> >>
> >> 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
> >> Message delivered to [hidden email]
> >> .
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > Elecraft mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:[hidden email]
> >
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> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> > Message delivered to [hidden email]
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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Jim Brown-10

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

On 1/4/2020 2:24 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote:
> I could cobble something together from several different vendors, but I'd prefer to purchase system components that are already proven, reliable, and reasonable in cost. Any recommendations?

I and many of my friends are using LiFePO4 batteries from Bioenne Power
with a Genasun charge regulator. Most high efficiency charge regulators
are mucho noisy, but this one is not. The two k3s on my operating desk
run on a 100Ah battery, which is float charged by a spare Thinkpad PSU.
It's rated for 20V @ 4.5A, and the charge regulator, which is an MPPT
type, down-converts it to the 14.5V or so that the battery wants to see.

This is enough to more than keep up with SO2R when the rigs are driving
a KPA1500 and an 87A, or a pair of 87As. Under load, the K3 voltmeter
stays above about 13.4V.

I own two 20Ah batteries for portable work; W6GJB owns a much smaller
one (4Ah) that he uses to power a KX3 for WSPR antenna testing. Petr,
AG6EE, owns a 50Ah battery that runs his KX3/KXPA100 for mountaintop VHF
work, and a 48V that runs a 6M kW amp sold by M2. I think the 48V
battery is 50 or 100 Ah. The weekend after Christmas, Petr was set up in
this National Monument https://www.nps.gov/orpi/planyourvisit/maps.htm
to work Meteor Scatter from this very rare grid along the US/Mexico
border. No generators are permitted, hence the big battery for the power
amp.

All of these batteries are Bioenne Power with LiFePO4 chemistry with
built-in circuitry to equalize the cells. They are very good people to
work with.

They also sell a much cheaper and simpler hysteresis charger for use
with their batteries.

73, Jim K9YC

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Jim Brown-10

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by n6lrv

What can you tell us about RF noise from the Morningstar charge
regulators when the wiring between panels, regulator, and battery is
very close to antennas? I'd be willing to bet it varies widely from one
regulator family to another.

Another critical point -- current drawn from the panels and fed to the
battery is pulsed DC, so should be viewed DC 100% modulated by DC square
waves. ALL wiring in the charge path must be twisted pair to minimize
radiation from it to nearby antennas.

73, Jim K9YC

On 1/4/2020 3:11 PM, [hidden email] wrote:
> Reasonably priced is up to you Wayne but for proven and reliable I recommend products from<https://www.morningstarcorp.com/>. At my place of work we have several of their MPPT and PWM controllers in service, some as much as 10 years now. I use their Prostar PWM controller on my personal standalone system with a 100 watt panel and a modest lead acid battery. In my experience their more compact Sunsaver products work well too and both are available on Amazon.

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Mark Goldberg

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

My Morningstar PWM controller has a bang bang mode that only switches once
a second or so. In the normal mode it is noisy. You give up the extra
efficiency from an MPPT charger, but it is much cheaper.

73,

Mark
W7MLG

On Sat, Jan 4, 2020 at 8:45 PM Jim Brown <[hidden email]> wrote:

> What can you tell us about RF noise from the Morningstar charge
> regulators when the wiring between panels, regulator, and battery is
> very close to antennas? I'd be willing to bet it varies widely from one
> regulator family to another.
>
> Another critical point -- current drawn from the panels and fed to the
> battery is pulsed DC, so should be viewed DC 100% modulated by DC square
> waves. ALL wiring in the charge path must be twisted pair to minimize
> radiation from it to nearby antennas.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
> On 1/4/2020 3:11 PM, [hidden email] wrote:
> > Reasonably priced is up to you Wayne but for proven and reliable I
> recommend products from<https://www.morningstarcorp.com/>. At my place of
> work we have several of their MPPT and PWM controllers in service, some as
> much as 10 years now. I use their Prostar PWM controller on my personal
> standalone system with a 100 watt panel and a modest lead acid battery. In
> my experience their more compact Sunsaver products work well too and both
> are available on Amazon.
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
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> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

Jonathan Morrison

Unable to save a Configuration on a KX3

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

I have had my KX3 (and my ticket) for a year or so now, but I am finally
learning how to use it. I did a factory reset, uploaded the latest
firmware via KX3Utility on ubuntu (sudo) and then tried to save the kx3
configuration but I receive the following error messages:

Activity Log: Configuration was not saved - Error reading EEPROM Data.
Error Message: *Unable to read EEPROM address 000.000

What I am doing wrong?

Sincerely,

Jonathan
KI7VZD
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Jim Brown-10

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by Mark Goldberg

On 1/4/2020 8:52 PM, Mark Goldberg wrote:
> My Morningstar PWM controller has a bang bang mode that only switches once
> a second or so. In the normal mode it is noisy. You give up the extra
> efficiency from an MPPT charger, but it is much cheaper.

That can be fine if you don't need to operate while charging.

73, Jim K9YC
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n6lrv

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by Jim Brown-10

I haven't observed any RFI from the Morningstar Prostar but then my small solar setup isn't close to any antennas. I'll give that a try and let you know what I find.

Gary

________________________________
From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> on behalf of Jim Brown <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2020 7:44 PM
To: [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

What can you tell us about RF noise from the Morningstar charge
regulators when the wiring between panels, regulator, and battery is
very close to antennas? I'd be willing to bet it varies widely from one
regulator family to another.

Another critical point -- current drawn from the panels and fed to the
battery is pulsed DC, so should be viewed DC 100% modulated by DC square
waves. ALL wiring in the charge path must be twisted pair to minimize
radiation from it to nearby antennas.

73, Jim K9YC

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Joshua Gould

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

I recently picked up a 30 watt Renogy panel that was sold as a kit. It came
with a 5 Amp charge controller that was suitable for sealed lead acid
batteries so I upgraded that to a 10 Amp charger that will work with all of
the available attery chemistries, as I plan to upgrade to LiFePo4 batteries
in the future.

The Renogy controller is dead quiet based on my experiences with using it
on the 1st of January as I activated three different parks.

I think Renogy's decent value for the money...

Josh
AE8JG

On Sun, Jan 5, 2020, 6:24 AM [hidden email] <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I haven't observed any RFI from the Morningstar Prostar but then my small
> solar setup isn't close to any antennas. I'll give that a try and let you
> know what I find.
>
> Gary
>
> ________________________________
> From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
> on behalf of Jim Brown <[hidden email]>
> Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2020 7:44 PM
> To: [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50
> watt solar panel
>
> What can you tell us about RF noise from the Morningstar charge
> regulators when the wiring between panels, regulator, and battery is
> very close to antennas? I'd be willing to bet it varies widely from one
> regulator family to another.
>
> Another critical point -- current drawn from the panels and fed to the
> battery is pulsed DC, so should be viewed DC 100% modulated by DC square
> waves. ALL wiring in the charge path must be twisted pair to minimize
> radiation from it to nearby antennas.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
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> Message delivered to [hidden email]
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> Elecraft mailing list
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Greg Troxel-2

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]> writes:

> I finally installed a single 50 W, 12 V solar panel on the roof for
> light backup purposes -- phone/pad/laptop/flashlight charging,
> natural-power use of the KX2/KX3, etc. Connecting the panel directly
> to automotive-style USB chargers works great when the sun is shining.
>
> My 15 year old thinks it's cool. He wants me to turn the mains breaker
> off for a whole day so we can get the full off-grid experience :)
>
> To facilitate that more rigorous purpose, I'd like to add a modest
> battery pack, say 10 to 20 AH, that is charged by the PV panel without
> intervention. The charger has to be compatible with simultaneous
> charge/discharge, i.e. we may need charge USB devices at the same time
> the PV panel is charging the battery. The battery voltage should be 11
> to 12 V minimum after any controller drops so it'll work with the
> radios.

You said "12V" panel, so I am assuming that the V_oc is about 20V.

You have basically a few decisions:

MPPT controller vs PWM vs on-off

equipment directly on the battery (well, fused) vs a controller that
has low-voltage disconnect (LVD)

battery size

Lead acid vs LiFEPO4

For me, the hard part is finding a place to mount panels and mounting
them, so paying a bit more for a good controller is cost effective. I
have a 55W panel with a Genasun GV5 and a 100W panel with a sunforce
on/off controller, and about 200Ah of lead acid batteries, and no low
voltage disconect. For years I charged solar only, and now I supplement
with a power supply and diode (soon to be better) this time of year (sun
is often shining, but angle is low and behind those pesky trees).

Given that you mention operating and not just phone charging, and you
have only a 55W panel, I recommend an MPPT controller, and basically I
recommend that anyway. You'll get more power out of the same panel, and
this will be even more noticeable on marginal-sun days. The Genasun GV5
is big enough for your panel.

The sunforce controller is interesting; it's <$20 and just passes the
panel to the battery until the battery reaches 14.2V, and then opens
until the battery drops to 13V (aimed at lead acid). This is sort of
ok, but with a panel that's large compared to the battery, the high
current will cause the 14.2 to be hit and you won't fully charge the
battery. (I'm using it on my 100W panel because I had one handy, and
really I only need that panel when the system sags over the november
low-sun bleak weeks, and then I don't see 14.2V -- but I have 200 Ah to
absorb maybe 6A. But I should get a GV-10.)

I don't use the LVD, because some of my loads are > 5A occasionally, and
because I have batteries in two places to avoid drop under load (but all
connected). But the GV5 has output terminals I think with almost no
drop, that will open up at 11.4V or similar. You might as well use it,
if using lead acid. With LiFePO4 that has BMS that does that already, I
don't see that it matters and it is probably just complexity you don't
need.

With batteries, unless you are buying new LiFePO4, you should actually
test them. I have found used batteries to vary from useless to almost
as good as new, and new batteries to be mostly ok but some of them have
been troubled from day one. I use a West Mountain CBA2.

10 Ah sounds low for using a KX2/3. Here we have multiple days of
clouds sometimes.

If you can get free lead acid batteries in good shape used (wheelchair
pulls), that's a good plan. Otherwise you should think hard about
LiFEPO4.

I would recommend that you either get:

a bunch of 7Ah batteries that were free to good home
one 33 Ah or more sealed lead acid (almost all are AGM, $60ish each?)
one or more 73 Ah sealed lead acid if free to good home (often GEL)
one 20 Ah LiFePO4 (e.g. bioenno), or maybe 12Ah ($200, $100 very ish)

The charge controller needs to match the battery chemistry. Genasun
configures the GV-5 for LiFePO4.

Probably it makes the most sense to go with LiFEPO4 for the scale of
system you are planning, especially when you consider the voltage on
transmit will be better matched for >5W operation on the KX2/3. While
the battery is more money, the controller and panel are the same, and I
expect the system to work better and last longer. Plus you can get away
with not doing tests on incoming batteries.

I also like to have a voltmeter on the battery at all times, visible (7
mA draw LCD intended for cars). Or an ADC into Home Assistant with
alarms.

Not sure how that relates to "cobbling", but if you just wire the panel
to the GV5, and put a powerpole cable on the battery terminals of the
GV-5 and plug in to a LiFePO4, you're basically done.

73 de n1dam
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Elecraft mailing list

Re: Unable to save a Configuration on a KX3

In reply to this post by Jonathan Morrison

Hi Jonathan,I suspect when you did the factory reset you erased the factory configuration. Contact support@elecraft and ask for a copy of the original configuration. You will need the s/n of the KX3 as the configuration is different for each radio. After restoring the config then try uploading the latest firmware. Next be sure to do a config save after updating. You do not need to do a factory reset when updating the firmware.Good luckJim Hk7sss
In a message dated 1/4/2020 8:59:38 PM Pacific Standard Time, [hidden email] writes:

I have had my KX3 (and my ticket) for a year or so now, but I am finally
learning how to use it. I did a factory reset, uploaded the latest
firmware via KX3Utility on ubuntu (sudo) and then tried to save the kx3
configuration but I receive the following error messages:

What I am doing wrong?

Sincerely,

Jonathan
KI7VZD

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Jonathan Morrison

Re: Unable to save a Configuration on a KX3

In reply to this post by Jonathan Morrison

Thank you!

After restoring the factory configuration (sent from [hidden email])
AND sending all firmware to the KX3 -- I am now able to save configurations
again.

On Sat, Jan 4, 2020, 9:57 PM Jonathan Morrison <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> I have had my KX3 (and my ticket) for a year or so now, but I am finally
> learning how to use it. I did a factory reset, uploaded the latest
> firmware via KX3Utility on ubuntu (sudo) and then tried to save the kx3
> configuration but I receive the following error messages:
>
> Activity Log: Configuration was not saved - Error reading EEPROM Data.
> Error Message: *Unable to read EEPROM address 000.000
>
> What I am doing wrong?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jonathan
> KI7VZD
>

W8JH

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

I cannot recommend highly enough the DIY solar forum. It to solar is what
the Elecraft forum is to ham radio, really!

The owner, Will Prowse, has a ton of youtube video's about DIY solar and has
"cookbook" type recommendations that would be stupid simple to put together.

LiFePO4 batteries are the cheapest in the long run when you consider depth
of discharge (available power) and number of cycles for the life of the
battery (buy once, cry once).

Take a look here: https://diysolarforum.com/

And here: https://www.mobile-solarpower.com/

-----
73,

Joe, W8JH

K3s, KPA 500, KAT 500 and KX3 happy user.
--
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73,

Joe, W8JH

K3s, KPA 500, KAT 500 and KX3 happy user.

Bob N3MNT

Re: OT: Battery and charger recommendations for 50 watt solar panel

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Might try something like this. Same components under lots of brand names.
Has solar controller builtin, USB and 12V out as well as limited 120VAC.
Easy to carry and portable.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KPYSN3S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Mike Duvall

Re: Unable to save a Configuration on a KX3

In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list

I had the exact same problem when I updated a few days ago. I am running
Ubuntu 18.04 if that matters. My KX3 SW was several years old so maybe the
install forced a factory reset to do the update. I did not select factory
reset.The radio appears to be working but I have not tried to Transmit since
the update. I will ask for a replacement config file and see if that fixes
the config save issue. Thanks for the quick post of the fix.

Mike
AC4ZQ

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