How do you have the battery installed Jim (considering what it's filled with and that even "sealed" batteries can out-gas flammable hydrogen at times)?
One ships the backup batteries were always in a steel locker on the deck *outside* the "house" (enclosed superstructure). I've considered doing something like that here but it requires keeping the batteries reasonably warm to avoid compromising their capacity. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim Brown Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2008 11:47 PM To: Elecraft List Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 power supply I use a big battery that I bought at Costco for $75, float-charged by a 10A switching power supply that I bought at a hamfest for $10. I had to add RFI filtering to it. This keeps up with my K3 driving my Titan amp in very heavy contesting (30-35w from the K3), and I can easily get full output from the K3 when I run barefoot. This rig has two HUGE advantages. First, it's VERY efficient, only drawing about 400mA from the power line when it's floating the battery at about 4A and running the radio and accessories. My Astrons draw about 5 times that just sitting there with no load. With California rates for electrical power, that's a very nice difference. Second, it's a pretty beefy UPS! 73, Jim K9YC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
