Disappointed with LIPO batteries.

Started by gil, April 27, 2014, 01:22:30 AM

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KK0G

Quote from: cockpitbob on September 21, 2014, 09:32:18 AM
I have a KX1.  I love that I only need to connect 2 wires to it:  antenna and ear buds.  But, will hold only 6 AA batteries internally.  Even with Alkalines the voltage is so low that it barely puts out 2W.  With NiMH batteries it's below 1W.  I now have 4 of the AA size, 600mAH, 3.2V LiFePO4 batteries in it.  That gets the voltage up to 12-13V and the powe is around 4W where it belongs.  For casual use on a weekend campout 600mAH batteries are fine and I have an external battery for a backup.  Needing a seperate charger for them was a drawback, but to me it was worth it.  And so far they've been reliable.

Same thing with my KX1 but I've never been concerned that I'm only transmitting at 2 Watts. I use alkalines quite often and easily make solid contacts at that low of a power level, if I can't do it with 2 Watts it's highly doubtful that another 2 Watts is going to make much difference. That said, I have splurged in the past and bought some of the expensive Energizer Ultimate Lithiums for it.
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

KK0G

RadioRay

Watts iz Watts...

Chris is correct.



Increasing your output power from 2 Watts to 4, would ONLY increase your signal by 3dB ; that is only half an S-unit. However, you could only transmit for half as long, because your transmitter is consuming twice the power.

-...-

I've been quite happy with NiMH batteries and use those inside my UParmored KX1. The Lithium Iron cells are beginning to interest me, as long as they do not require a sophisticated charger.



de RadioRay ..._  ._
"When we cannot do the good we would, we must be ready to do the good we can."  ~ Matthew Henry

cockpitbob

Ray, I completely agree about doubling the power does almost nothing.  This was purely an emotion driven thing for me.  I stick with rechargables, so my power went up 4X because it was only about 1W with NiMH batteries, but still, that's only a 1 S-unit improvement.  There was just something about having such an expensive and capable radio putting out only 1W that I couldn't stand.

gil

#18
I remember reading about a mod somewhere to boost the KX1 power.. I think it was just changing a couple components, resistors if I remember well.. But don't quote me on that.. The price being a little more current on transmit.

Found it!

QuoteR30 increases to 33 ohms (from 22) and R11 is decreased to 4.7 ohms (from 10).  If you have the 1/4 watt resistors, you can make the change.

Gil.

cockpitbob

Gil, thanks for looking that up for me.  I actually have that mod in and still my unit runs about 30% less power than it should.  I've looked at everything including the output filters and removing the tuner.  Oh well, 30% really is nothing.

gil

Hi, yes, I like the Eneloops, best rechargeables I've tried. I can only use 8, because my MTR can't use more than 12V, but it is plenty and gives me 5W output power. They also work great for my K1.

Gil.