Everyone orders off the same menu. Anyone who has not been living under a rock since the pandemic knows full well that pretty much everything is getting crazy expensive. That would be bad enough except very few of us have increased our income accordingly. This is not a political statement.... Read more Β»
Power. It is one of the most important aspects of running an operation. But what if you donβt have access to AC power or a storm knocks out all power in your area? Β
What Are Your Backup Power Options?
There are some differences if you are at home or in the field. At home you will want to power more than just a radio and its accessoriesβthings like a refrigerator, air conditioning, and internet service.
What you want is an uninterruptable power supply (UPS). These can be as little or as large as you can afford. Most of us have small units connected to our computers for safe shutdown. There are room size UPS units that back up large data centers, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure.
The big question is how much runtime do you get? This is almost solely dependent onβ¦
β¦you guessed it. Batteries.
Lead-acid batteries, most often deep-cycle, are a good choice for emergency power. They are rugged and have relatively low energy density. The deep-cycle option also handles a slow discharge well. They can be used with or without a battery box. A battery box can be purchased or homemade. The cost is on the lower side for batteries as well. The main disadvantage is that they can be extremely heavy, which is usually not an issue for home use.
The next option for home use is a generator, like the Generac GP3600 Series Portable Generator shown below. These can provide power for an extended time period and are rugged. However, generators are bulky and not easy to move. You also need to have fuel to power them and keep them running smoothly.
(Image/DX Engineering)
Solar is a good choice for home and portable use. It also has the advantage of being environmentally friendly. A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell (PV), is a device that converts light into electric current using the photovoltaic effect. Multiple solar cells are connected inside modules and modules are wired together to form arrays. The arrays are then tied to an inverter, which produces power at the desired voltage.
A large array for maximum power can become very expensive. Home solar systems often have a way to store excess energy and feed it back into the power grid. Portable solar panels come in many shapes and sizes that you can roll up, fold up, or fold over for easy storage. Straight panels that are more rigid are a good option as well.
So, what are some good options for people out on a field exercise or during a Parks on the Air activation?
A choice that is growing in popularity is a power station, like the A-iPower 300W Lithium Portable Power Station below. It includes outlets for USB and 12-volt power, with receptacle plugs for easy hookup and power supply. While power stations are relatively lightweight, they may not be the best option for tossing into a backpack from a weight perspective.
(Image/DX Engineering)
Another extremely popular option is the lithium iron phosphate battery. Lithium iron phosphate (LFP) is an inorganic compound with the formula LiFePO4. Some of its advantages include long cycle lifetimes, high power density, wide operating temperature range, and easy transportability due to its light weight. You can find a range of Bioenno Power LiFePO4 12VDC batteries (see the 12 Ah model below) and battery/charger combos at DXEngineering.com.
(Image/DX Engineering)
What is your favorite alternative or backup power? Questions?
Share them in the comments below or email me at KE8FMJ@gmail.com.
One thing about me, and maybe it's in my Polish genes, I can be stubborn at times.Β
Case in point, I really didn't understand how that PowerWerx deep cycle battery could go bad in just a year. It was purchased new, and has not gone through many recharge cycles at all.
I decided to hook it up to my older ACME SLA charger. I figured that I didn't have anything to lose, even though my new fangled "smart charger"Β was telling me the battery would not accept a charge.
As soon as I hooked it up, the indicator on the ACME glowed amber. This means the battery was not full and was accepting a charge. After some time, it eventually turned to green, meaning the battery is fully charged and was then in a trickle charge state.
So now the conundrum. Bad battery, or bad charger? I'm going to give it some work and see how long it's legs last. If it doesn't crap out on me and holds its charge well, I'm going to have to assume it's the charger.
During the middle of the night on Saturday/Sunday, I got a low battery voltage warning on the KX3. That struck me as odd, as I had recently charged up my 12V 10 Ah battery. I was expecting it to last the entirety of Field Day.Β But in the heat of battle you really don't think twice about it, so I took it off line and hastily replaced with a recently purchased 12v 5 Ah battery that I had gotten about two weeks ago. THAT battery lasted the second half of Field Day without a whimper.
When I got home from work on Monday, I put the 10 Ah battery on my charger and was getting a battery failure indication. It was reading at a level of 10V and 0% capacity and would not accept a charge, I was wondering how can this be? It was purchased new and I haven't put it through nearly enough cycles to have exhausted it. I figured it must be a battery charger fault, so I hooked up the 5 Ah battery to the charger to see what it said. The 5 Ah (which was in use for roughly the same amount of time, if not more) was down to only 11.8 Volts and had 89% capacity left in it! And the charger's fan started running as soon as I hooked it up.
No charger fault - I got a bad 12V 10 Ah battery. Dang!
I don't remember where I purchased it, whether it was from eBay or Amazon, but it doesn't matter. Its not like you can return a battery some 11 months after you've bought it online. I had purchased it after the 2023 Skeeter Hunt when my last deep cycle battery gave up the ghost. I don't want to be scrambling for electrons during the Hunt this year, so I went on eBay and found an economically (cheaply) priced 12V 10 Ah Deep Cycle Gel Cell battery.
I know, you guys are probably thinking, why didn't he go lithium?Β Price mainly, but also because I don't feel like purchasing a dedicated lithium battery charger. I once ruined a small lithium battery by not using the correct charger on it and I don't want to relive that escapade. I learned that lesson well. However, should this battery not last longer than a cycle or two, I guess I'll bite the bullet. Maybe spending a little more right now would be the right thing to do in the long run, but I guess I'm too frugal to have reached that point yet.
It should be at my house in about a week - long before it's needed for the Skeeter Hunt on August 18th - which, by the way, we've had 93 sign ups so far and the 1st Day of Summer was only 6 days ago!
And looky see what came in the mail yesterday!
Not an ATNO, but an ATNC - All Time New Confirmation. I've worked Easter Island before, but never got a QSL card.
The best of times. Battery technology has made huge advances in a relatively short amount of time. When batteries started being commercially produced in the early 1900s, lead acid or βwet cellβ batteries were the only option. βDry cellβ batteries were made too, but they were for small applications such... Read more Β»
A higher capacity battery was on my mind when I saw a posting on a POTA forum by
Will K4BDA. Will noted the huge price difference between a 20AH Bioenno and a
20AH Nermak. With one being over 4 times the price of the other, I
decided to give the Nermak a shot. For a bit over a year now, I've had a Bioenno and a Nermak battery - both are 12AH - and have used them at least weekly for POTA
This tutorial demonstrates how to connect two 12-volt batteries in parallel using Power Queen 12.8V, 100Ah, 1280Wh lithium iron phosphate batteries. The provided YouTube link offers a detailed guide. For related content, explore building a solar-powered Off-Grid Ham Radio Station and information on radio-friendly MPPT charge controllers and off-grid communications.
Exponential market growth! Lithium battery technology has made exponential market penetration in the last decade or so. Once an exotic and expensive platform, today nearly every battery-powered device uses lithium. Along with increased market acceptance comes attention, both good and bad. Most of the bad news circulating about lithium batteries... Read more Β»
When you want to expand your battery capacity. Off grid ham radio has an addictive quality about it. You tell yourself, βIβll get a modest battery and solar panel and just fool around a little bit. Iβm not too serious about this,β thinking thatβs as far as youβll ever go.... Read more Β»
Graduation time. A lot of if not most off grid hams have only one battery in their system. Connecting a single battery is more or less self-explanatory. What should you do when you expand your system to include multiple batteries? Should they be in series? In parallel? Is one way... Read more Β»
It cannot be avoidedβ¦ Batteries are arguably the weakest link in the off grid radio chain. Solar panels, controllers, connecting cables, and almost everything else can last years, even decades. But batteries are a consumable product and no matter how good yours are, itβs almost certain they will not last... Read more Β»
Mother Nature flips the switch. Where I live in the upper Midwest USA, we were unusually lucky to have an extended warm Fall season. In early November we were still seeing highs over 70F (21C). I was raking leaves wearing shorts and a t-shirt! But ahhh yes, everyone knew the... Read more Β»