Li-Fe-Po is the only way to go.
Just be aware that besides the high price of the battery, you must also buy
a special battery charger because you cannot charge them with a normal
battery charger. BEWARE!
The battery charger cost me as much as the battery, but now I have a 12 Ah
battery that puts out 13v and runs and runs, making the Eveready Bunny look
like a puny weakling! Mine weighs 1.4 kg.
I can run the Scout at 25 watts all day long and the battery is still going.
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Bwana Bob
Sent: Friday, March 18, 2016 3:10 AM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] SOTA RADIO
Rick, et al,
Yes, I was browsing on a VK SOTA site and he recommended this battery:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__22656__ZIPPY_Flightmax_8400mAh_4S
2P_30C_LiFePo4_Pack_AUS_Warehouse_.html
Here is his test data. The LiPo battery holds it's voltage better than the
the SLA, which should make the Scout happier.
http://vk3zpf.com/2013/11/portable-battery-choices.html
Those military HF SSB/CW packsets intrigue me, but at the prices a used one
gets, one could buy 2 used Ten-Tec rigs, plus the ICs used in the MIL rigs
are obsolete and generally unobtainable. High coolness factor, though.
73,
Bob WB2VUF
On 3/17/2016 3:38 AM, rick@dj0ip.de wrote:
> Bob,
>
> I have a 12 Ah Li-Fe-Po battery that weighs only 4 lbs. It runs at
> about 13v.
> In comparison, my 9 Ah Gel battery for my motor scooter weighs about
> twice as much.
>
> So I can run my Scout all day long at 25w using this Li-Fe-Po.
>
> The problem is not the scout, nor the battery, it's me.
>
> "I" was that soldier carrying the manpack back in the early 1970s and
> believe me, it was 10x easier than carrying the scout and Li-Fe-Po today!
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Bwana
> Bob
> Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2016 3:13 AM
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] SOTA RADIO
>
> Rick:
>
> Is there still that much SW broadcasting in Europe? I know that the
> BBC, Swiss Radio International, Radio Netherlands, and the Voice of
> Russia (Radio Moscow, when I was a kid) have all gone dark. Who is
> left? Deutsche Welle, maybe?
>
> Well... You might have to just lug the Scout up the mountain. The
> Scout with a gel cell battery still weighs less than the MIL surplus
> HF packsets that the soldiers used to carry. I have run my Scout on a
> 7 Ah SLA battery, by reducing the power to 5W, though one can go
> higher. I usually run the Scout at 30 W, which is plenty for SSB. If
> low battery voltage is a concern, you can make up a pack with a 4 V and a
6 V SLA in series to make 14 V.
> Just a few ideas..
>
> 73,
>
> Bob WB2VUF
>
> On 3/16/2016 8:20 AM, rick@dj0ip.de wrote:
>> The Arogonau V's receiver was a disaster here in Europe.
>> The local QRP club gave it such a bad review that you couldn't sell
>> it in Europe.
>>
>> As I have said many times, you guys in the states have no idea what
>> we are facing over here.
>> Besides the smaller, more congested bands, we have all of these
>> hundred thousand watt shortwave broadcast stations.
>>
>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Dave
>> Edwards
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 11:47 AM
>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] SOTA RADIO
>>
>> The Argo V seems like it came and went quickly.
>> A QRP rig, that was actually adjustable up to 20 or 25 watts.
>> Did (obviously) CW very nice...and SSB was fine also.
>> ...Dave
>>
>> On 3/16/16 6:36 AM, rick@dj0ip.de wrote:
>>> OK, tnx Barry.
>>>
>>> It seems to be that All of the low cost radios that work SSB are not
>>> very good at CW.
>>> And the radios that are good at CW do not work SSB. :-((
>>>
>>> I know QRP has an official limit of 5w, but in my 25 years where I
>>> was really active all the time in portable work, I found that 10w CW
>>> was much more reliable for communicating than 5w, even though it is
>>> just 3dB difference. I also found I could work reliably with 20 to
>>> 25w of SSB and that 5w SSB was tough a lot of time. So I would love
>>> to see a 20w
>> radio.
>>> I believe the SGC 2020 has 20w but I've heard it is not good on CW
>>> and that the receiver tends to overload and the radio also hangs a
>>> lot, requiring a master-reset.
>>>
>>> We need to design a dual band radio with:
>>>
>>> > Analog VFO from 10 to 11 MHz
>>> > A crystal local oscillator on 3.5 MHz
>>> > Mixer products give us "13.5 to 14.5" MHz AND "6.5 to 7.5" MHz
>>> > 6-Pole Jones filter on 3.5 MHz
>>> > 20w SSB & CW
>>> > Audio-derived AGC
>>> > Analog Audio filter
>>> > Use transistors rated 50 or even 100w, but run at 20w. That
>>> way it can work into 5:1 SWR without a tuner!
>>>
>>> That's your 40m/20m dual band radio, simple and easy!
>>> The VFO tunes in opposite directions on the two bands but that
>>> doesn't matter.
>>> KISS!
>>>
>>>
>>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>>> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of
>>> Barry N1EU
>>> Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 10:28 AM
>>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] SOTA RADIO
>>>
>>> You don't want the roofing filter option for the KX-3 because it has
>>> to be defeated if there are reasonably strong in/out-of-band signals.
>>>
>>> You would be fine with just 40 & 20M from the mountain top. 30M is
>>> nice to have and occasionally 17M. When condx are good, 15M is also
>>> nice
>> to have.
>>> And of course, when the solar flux is higher, 10M is an amazing QRP
band.
>>> But just 40 & 20M would serve you very well.
>>>
>>> The LNR rig might not be so great on CW - you should research that.
>>>
>>> I suggest you post questions about SOTA and SOTA radios in these two
>> places:
>>> http://reflector.sota.org.uk/
>>> https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/nasota/info
>>>
>>> 73, Barry N1EU
>>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 16, 2016 at 2:33 AM, rick@dj0ip.de <Rick@dj0ip.de> wrote:
>>>
>>>> (changed the subject: was Service, overhead and the future A/K...)
>>>>
>>>> Barry,
>>>>
>>>> I did a lot of reading in the past day and I believe you are right.
>>>> The KX3 is exactly the radio I described. PERFECT.
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately it's beyond my budget.
>>>>
>>>> The basic KX3 costs $1500 here in DL.
>>>> Add in a tuner and roofing filter and paddle and it's over $2K for
>>>> a 10w radio that I might use 5 or 6 times per year on a mountain top.
>>>> The ROI just isn't worth it.
>>>>
>>>> For home use, say as my 2nd radio, I would need an amplifier.
>>>>
>>>> Bottom Line: It's a champagne dream on a Budweiser budget.
>>>> For that money -(at this point in my life)- I would get more bangs
>>>> for my buck out of playing with something else, such as a 7300 or
>>>> an
>>> Annan, etc.
>>>> I need a Plan B for SOTA. Maybe it's just "bite the bullet and
>>>> carry my Scout up the mountain."
>>>>
>>>> I don't mind spending $500 or so but I would sure like to know how
>>>> the radio is going to perform BEFORE I buy it.
>>>>
>>>> My primary bands for portable have always been 40 and 20. 15 will
>>>> be dying soon. Do I really need 17m for SOTA?
>>>>
>>>> QUESTION FOR YOU ACTIVE SOTA Ops: What bands do you mainly operate
>>>> when you are on a mountain top?
>>>>
>>>> I've only been on one SOTA outing together with a buddy and we
>>>> operated
>>>> 40/20/17/15 making a lot of QSOs on each band. Perhaps not quite
>>>> as many on 17.
>>>>
>>>> I think I will take a second look at the LNR offering.
>>>> It is indeed an SDR with DDC - so not an NE-605 type of radio.
>>>> Unfortunately they don't show much detail; just a block diagram.
>>>> There is a box called SDR-RF BPF.
>>>> This is a make or break component.
>>>> Some SDR radios have ham band BPFs (good), others have an LPF, with
>>>> 0-12MHz (useless).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>>>> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of
>>>> Barry N1EU
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 5:48 PM
>>>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>>>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Service, overhead, and the future. A/K/A/
>>>> I've got my
>>>> 2 cents!
>>>>
>>>> Rick, I'm not sure if you would be satisfied by the KX1 or the MTR
>> radios.
>>>> Unfortunately I don't know the answer to something better but not
>>>> too expensive.
>>>>
>>>> I suggest you try to borrow an MTR-5B. That's the only lesser
>>>> expensive radio that will do 40-15M inclusively. And you'd have to
>>>> search around to find one for sale currently although LNR should be
>>> bringing it out soon.
>>>> Or, just stick with the FT-817. I like the radio, although it
>>>> really needs an external speech processor to work well on SSB.
>>>>
>>>> 73, Barry N1EU
>>>>
>>>> On Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 11:50 AM, rick@dj0ip.de <Rick@dj0ip.de> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi Barry,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd love to have a KX3 but it is much too heavy.
>>>>> It's weight would place too big of a dent in my wallet!
>>>>>
>>>>> For SOTA I really only need 40/20/17/15m.
>>>>> 10 is dying and by the time it comes back, I doubt that I will
>>>>> still be running up any mountains.
>>>>>
>>>>> My next scheduled SOTA operation is 1-April. "Fool on a hill" -
>>>>> that's
>>>> me!
>>>>> I don't know yet if I'll try carrying my Scout up the mountain or not.
>>>>> I can borrow an FT-817.
>>>>>
>>>>> How good is the KX1?
>>>>> We have some heavy challenges on our receivers here in EU.
>>>>> A weak DR3 destroys 40m, especially at night, and a weak DR2 makes
>>>>> working 20m difficult - especially at night. You guys in the
>>>>> states can't appreciate that. You have to see/hear it to believe it.
>>>>>
>>>>> I once built a 20m QRP rig based on a design by Rick Littlefield.
>>>>> Had some kind of IC mixer.
>>>>> It was marginal.
>>>>> I ran a QRP CW contest using a home-brew magnetic loop antenna.
>>>>> Sitting in my living room with radio, mag loop, and battery, I
>>>>> worked
>>>> dozens of QSOs.
>>>>> Thought it was great. Then I put it on a big antenna and all hell
>>>>> broke loose at night.
>>>>>
>>>>> So I bought the MFJ 20m QRP CW rig.
>>>>> It was no better than the one I built.
>>>>> I sold both.
>>>>>
>>>>> I want something better than that - but not too expensive.
>>>>> But I don't know the QRP radios at all, except for the Argonauts.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>>>>> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of
>>>>> Barry N1EU
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 12:25 AM
>>>>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>>>>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Service, overhead, and the future. A/K/A/
>>>>> I've got my
>>>>> 2 cents!
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 9:40 PM, rick@dj0ip.de <Rick@dj0ip.de> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> My Scout is a bit too heavy and over-powered, but the FT-817 just
>>>>>> isn't enough radio for me.
>>>>>> I'm looking for something in between. I'd like to see a 10w or
>>>>>> 20w radio with a good RX.
>>>>>> I want it to have both SSB and CW.
>>>>> It's called a KX-3
>>>>>
>>>>> I've got one, but I usually carry a much lighter KX-1 or MTR-5B
>>>>> when I actually hike up a mountain. (200 SOTA activations here)
>>>>>
>>>>> 73, Barry N1EU
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> TenTec mailing list
>>>>> TenTec@contesting.com
>>>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> TenTec mailing list
>>>>> TenTec@contesting.com
>>>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>>>>
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