How to choose a battery for ham radio

How to choose a battery for portable ham radio.
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LiFePO4 are cheaper - • LiFePO4 batteries are ...
Test Meter - amzn.to/3zfTxYH
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Bioenno Battery - amzn.to/3ZrCi1e
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[@thork0tjt515]

Excellent explaination! Thank you!

[@MrStanwyck]

Great video Jason and perfect timing. I just received my Icom 705 yesterday. I bought it to specifically do SOTA with my own built half wave end fed antenna. Your video will help me figure out what size battery to get for transmitting the full 10 watts. 73, KC2KNA

[@Will_N4WIL]

Informative and to the point 👍

[@chrisherd991]

Jason a tip for the people that have the buddipole mini charge controller. It has a amp hours consumed measurement so you always know where you are at with your battery state at all times (as long as you dont turn off the controller). Rule of thumb for batteries, lead acid has a maximum discharge level of 50% c/f Lipo of 80% to 90%.

[@KM4ACK]

Great tips! Thanks

[@DonzLockz]

Thanks Jason. I always add some extra contingency but not too much. Good practical info buddy. :)

[@KM4ACK]

Always a good idea to have a bit of margin

[@brucecash3939]

Great video, very helpful. Appreciate you doing the math showing the different scenarios

[@KM4ACK]

My pleasure!

[@chrissewell1608]

Good video, as usual! Not to mention all the benefits of LifePo4 batteries over Seal Lead Acid batteries.

[@HamRadioOnFire]

Solid work as usual, I’ll be sending you a Math Faculty Application: ;)

[@dougdaniels]

Spring for a Bioenno. Buy once, cry once.

[@KM4ACK]

Typically I agree but those dang Miady 8Ah have actually been great batteries. Zero issue with either of the ones I have in the last two years. Last I tested (about 6 months ago) I was still getting almost the full 8Ah out of both.

[@K3JRZOnTheAir]

That’s true for a lot of things. I’d rather buy quality stuff. It’s worth the investment.

[@joshuafletcher4963]

​@Steven H Just out of personal curiosity, how did you test their capacity?

[@ryanv7075]

Or buy once and skip the crying, haha, since the Maidy is doing good

[@KTK_Rockstar]

Im usually of the buy once cry once variety but the bioennos are a big cry 🤣

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

The transmit is even murkier as you might want to consider the duty cycle of SSB vs. carrier...maybe 25% depending on processing. I worked up a spreadsheet and there are a lot of guesses. Your are correct...get out into the field and see how your ciphering compares to the real thing.

[@Philip-KA4KOE]

Miady is fine. I can't see paying over twice for similar AH size.

[@chrissewell1608]

I kind of agree with that. You can probably buy 3 or 4 Miady batteries for what 1 Bioenno battery costs!

[@Ron_pd3ron]

hi Jason, thanks for the clear explanation about batteries.👍🏻 I am now looking at which 18650 3.7 volt batteries I can use for my (TR)usdx qrp set to go portable. this helps with the calculation, but I'm also thinking about a small solar panel Thanks , Ron, pd3ron

[@joshuafletcher4963]

If you go with a solar panel, don't forget that you'll probably need some type of charge controller

[@Ron_pd3ron]

@@joshuafletcher4963 thanks for the tip, I have a victron solar chager for my kenwood ts480

[@billryland6199]

I use 3 Miaty 6 AH batteries in parallel to run an FT-891 at 50 watts SSB portable. I have 2 100 watt solar panels and MPPT controller for extended operation. Works fine.

[@KM4ACK]

Nice setup!

[@larrytaylor7753]

Of note, a radio drawing 20A on transmit is likely putting about about 100 watts, if running QRP the battery demand is MUCH lower. You can carry a smaller battery or operated that 20A battery for a very long time.

[@KM4ACK]

Good point

[@gleytch]

At least 100W. Less than 10W will get you a very long battery life.

[@chrissewell1608]

"The Baofeng of Batteries"! 😂 Oh wait... I have several Baofeng radios, and they work pretty good! So.... Maybe 😮 😊

[@thomasmaughan4798]

SSB (Single Sideband) has nowhere near a 50 percent duty cycle. 25 to 33 percent is about tops (average 5 to 7 amps for a 100 watt radio). However, digital modes, CW and FM are 100 percent duty cycle on transmit. That's why a typical 100 watt radio will get very hot at full power digital modes; might even self destruct. HOWEVER even if the *average* amps is 5 to 7 amps, the PEAK amps will be at least 20, on a 100 watt SSB transmission. A big capacitor helps smooth out the demand on the battery and resultant voltage fluctuations.

[@mikeramsey9747]

Does the Buddipole mini2 also work as a solar charge controller

[@KM4ACK]

It does and it will work with several different battery chemistries including LiFePO4. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYmknaaPn7SGfJo

[@BrianMaguire]

How do you recharge one of those batteries? Is an automotive trickle charger acceptable?

[@KM4ACK]

You need a LiFePO4 specific charger. Something like this will work - amzn.to/3K4kzYi

[@joel6221]

MY 23AH LifePo ran my IC-7300 @ 100w for 2.5 hours, and only used 20% of the capacity

[@KM4ACK]

Nothing beats field testing :-)

[@thomasmaughan4798]

Did you measure the power? Probably not. The IC-7300 is VERY sensitive to power supply. The driver stage AND the power amplifier is directly driven by battery voltage. I have measured 4 times more power output just adding two volts (with a booster). You can ASK for 100 percent power, but with reduced drive AND reduced voltage on the PA stage, this cascade of reduced voltage really hits the real power. The Icom IC-705 is basically just the drive stage of a 7300; the final stage comes straight off the battery but everything else is regulated. It also meets specification only if you give it 13.6 or 13.8 volts. ANYWAY, what that means is with SSB duty cycle of around 25 percent you can go for a much longer time than arithmetic suggests.

[@joel6221]

@@thomasmaughan4798 Correct me if i'm wrong, but a Lithium battery supplies a full 13 volts until it dies, it doesn't wane - so if the 7300 is getting full 12 volts, why would the radio reduce it's power output?

[@ae4xo]

If you fly you can only have a battery that 160 watt hours. So you are limited to a 12AH. So all of the other points are great, but the TSA makes it a mute point

[@billerfurth5247]

Hey, very very good. How about making one on qrp rigs 5-20 wats. 73 Bill KZ3DX

[@KM4ACK]

The same info and math can be applied regardless of QRO or QRP.

[@frankwc0o]

For mobile, no way you are getting 10A on a 50 Watt panel. Maybe 2.7 A. So, for 10 Amps, you will need a lot of solar panels.

[@dwatson4]

Do these figures assume 100% battery usage? I’m pretty sure you don’t want more than 80% discharge on a lifepo4. Most radio shut down under 10v anyway, but take off another 20%-50%. You get more cycles out of your battery if you don’t let it get below 50% discharge.

[@KM4ACK]

Yes. This would assume 100% discharge. Most LiFePO4 batteries have a BMS board built in that protects them from over discharge. I run my batteries dead on a regular basis. After 5 years of regular use, I still get ~90% out of my Dakato Lithium. Here's a video where I tested it kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJbTfWR7adGsorM Also, LiFePO4 stays above 12V for the vast majority of the discharge cycle.

[@kurtzFPV]

I'm a lipo guy. Wouldn't recommend them for most people as they are potentially dangerous. But I have all the proper chargjng and storing equipment from my FPV drone flying hobby. Used correctly, they are a great weight/power ratio.

[@jimweisgram9185]

I'm a LiFePO4 guy when using mobile radios, but not for HTs. LiFePO4s are cheaper in the long run, not prone to catch on fire, good for many more recharges than Lion. Yes, bigger than Lion for similar capacity.