[BARC-List] Battery Operations

[Richard Amirault]

Not sure what you have in mind.

Of course it is much easier to put together something that will not have to
be carried around  *while*you*are*operating*.  Setting up a mobile rig at a
table somewhere is fairly easy. You can use as big a battery as you can
find, and the antenna also simplified of course.

But if you want to operate while walking around, then size and weight all
come into play. I've been told you *can* operate a mobile rig with
somethiing as small as a 7 amp/hour battery. I don't know for how *long* ..
but the size and weight of that size battery is fairly easy to manage.

You also have the problem of controlling the mobile rig. If you put it in a
backpack how do you QSY or adjust the volume?  You'll have to unshoulder
the pack every time. If you can't "lock" the rig, then it may rub against
something else in tbe pack and QSY on it's own and you would not know it.

As for an antenna I'm not sure how you could rig that up. I suppose a car
mobile antenna would be your best bet.

Richard Amirault                           N1JDU                 Boston,
MA, USA
ramirault@erols.com              "Go Fly A Kite"
http:// www.erols.com/ramirault
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ethan Maass" <ethan@maassmedia.com>
Subject: [BARC-List] Battery Operations


> I'm looking for portable power solutions for operating a mobile rig at
> 12v. This would be for use where more than 5w is needed in an emergency
or
> at an outlying area of a public service event.
>
> I remember seeing someone at the Boston Marathon a few years ago (before
I
> was a ham) who had a mobile radio in a backpack with batteries and a
small
> antenna mast. What kind of setup might this have been?
>
> I figure that with my 5w HT and a good bunch of batteries I'd be OK for
> most public service events, but I'm curious about building something more
> substantial. And carrying a car battery around is not all that practical.
> ;-)  Or is that really the answer...