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Portable Power Supply

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Shel Radin KF0UR

Portable Power Supply

Greetings All,

Here I am portable at my mother-in-law's place in NY (home QTH is CO). I was fortunate enough to bring my KX1 with me to make *good* use of my time while visiting. With the internal batteries (1-2 watts out) and a 36 foot wire tossed out of the window of her 4th floor apartment, I made a dozen QSOs on 20M yesterday including OK, I, PJ2, PJ4, HG, and a bunch of stateside. What a blast!

For the next visit, I'll have my KX3, and things can only get better. Condx are poor today, but I bet I could make a PSK31 QSO if I had the means.

Which brings me to my quest for a portable power supply. Having used my KX1 only hiking and never around AC, I've never thought about a small supply. But in this situation, it's very appropriate. I noticed there are a number of supplies on the market when I searched for 12V 2A regulated supplies. There are some that are wall wart style, which would be perfect for travelling.

So, my question is...
- does anyone have any experience with these and have a recommendation?
- are these relatively cheap regulated supplies really regulated enough?
- do we think 2 amps is sufficient for the KX3 in the 10 watt mode?

Tnx for the advice.

73, Shel KF0UR

Shel Radin KF0UR

Re: Portable Power Supply

Sorry for the double post. I received a nabble error message when I originally posted, thinking it didn't make it, so I posted again. I tried to delete one of them, but they persist!

Matt Zilmer

Re: Portable Power Supply

In reply to this post by Shel Radin KF0UR

Samlex SEC 1235M. Lightweight, 8"x7"x2.5" dimensions, 30A output.
Web:
http://www.samlex.com/SAMLEX/site/products/productdetails.cfm?iProductId=136

You may not need the 30A output capacity, but it makes the PSU useful
for a K3 or any 100-watt class xcvr as well. The 1235 is ultra-clean,
and there are very few RFI issues.

Here is Acopian's offering at 13V:
http://www.acopian.com/store/productdetail.aspx?q=dNominal+Output+Voltage:+13;+Max+Output+Current+Amps+%2850+C%29:+2.3;+++Ripple+mV+RMS:+15;+Ripple+mV+P-P:+100;+Case+Size:+EBW-13,i763
Lists at $192.00, which seems pricey compared to the Samlex @ 30A for
a wee bit more.

73,
matt W6NIA

On Sun, 22 Jan 2012 07:31:57 -0800 (PST), you wrote:

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Keith Heimbold

Re: Portable Power Supply

In reply to this post by Shel Radin KF0UR

I have a small Power Werx 35 amp supply and I use it all the time for the K3 and FT950 (backup). It is very small and excellent for transporting.

Keith

Sent from my iPhone please excuse typos

On Jan 22, 2012, at 7:32 AM, "Shel Radin KF0UR" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Greetings All,
>
> Here I am portable at my mother-in-law's place in NY (home QTH is CO). I
> was fortunate enough to bring my KX1 with me to make *good* use of my time
> while visiting. With the internal batteries (1-2 watts out) and a 36 foot
> wire tossed out of the window of her 4th floor apartment, I made a dozen
> QSOs on 20M yesterday including OK, I, PJ2, PJ4, HG, and a bunch of
> stateside. What a blast!
>
> For the next visit, I'll have my KX3, and things can only get better. Condx
> are poor today, but I bet I could make a PSK31 QSO if I had the means.
>
> Which brings me to my quest for a portable power supply. Having used my KX1
> only hiking and never around AC, I've never thought about a small supply.
> But in this situation, it's very appropriate. I noticed there are a number
> of supplies on the market when I searched for 12V 2A regulated supplies.
> There are some that are wall wart style, which would be perfect for
> travelling.
>
> So, my question is...
> - does anyone have any experience with these and have a recommendation?
> - are these relatively cheap regulated supplies really regulated enough?
> - do we think 2 amps is sufficient for the KX3 in the 10 watt mode?
>
> Tnx for the advice.
>
> 73, Shel KF0UR
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/Portable-Power-Supply-tp7213597p7213597.html
> Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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

Phil Salas

Re: Portable Power Supply

In reply to this post by Shel Radin KF0UR

As the KX1 requires less than 1-amp, you might want to take a look at the
Array Solutions PS-12R1A power supply. This is a linear regulated wall-wart
type power supply, is is RF quiet, and it is only $19.

Phil - AD5X

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Shel Radin KF0UR

Re: Portable Power Supply

Thanks, Phil (and everyone else).

I'm planning on using the supply with the KX3 at the 10 watt output as well. I'm guessing something in the order of 2 amps will be needed. This should provide the needed current with a little overhead to spare.

By the way, when I got home last night, I found an old supply from some external disk drive. It's 12V, 2A and a perfect size. I hooked it up and I didn't hear any artifacts or hash on 20, 30 or 40M. When I transmitted, the signal sounded OK to my uncalibrated ears listening on my K3, but on the P3, the signal was VERY dirty looking, especially compared to using a Samlec 1235M. So, I don't think that's a good solution.

Appreciate the advice...

73, Shel KF0UR