[BARC-List] Battery Solutions

[Steve Hersey]

>�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...

My solution is camcorder batteries and a hot-rod antenna on my HTX202 HT.
Works like this:

I have a belt-mounted battery case that fits a 12V, 2.3 A-H camcorder 
gel-cell, and which mates to a modified dry-cell pack (now effectively just a 
reliable power connector) on my also-belt-mounted HT. This gives me a solif 
5W of ultimate portability with LOTSA talk time. 

Couple this to an efficient antenna (a base-loaded dipole that is MUCH more 
efficient than those air-colled rubber dummy loads), and you have an 
effective, Marathon-proven somm system that does decently well. The best way 
to get that signal out is to radiate it efficiently. Watts not wasted need 
not be supplied, etc ad nauseam. It works.

If you *NEED* more power than this solution provides, my next-more-powerful 
system is a small Halliburton case containing a shock-mounted base station, 
two or three 6 A-H gel cells, and a mag-mount 5/8-wave dipole (look, Ma, no 
ground plane!) or else a J-pole or whatever. This system is portable but not 
mobile in operation, mainly due to the unavoidable weight of the batteries. 

If anyone has seen those rumored butane-powered fuel cells that are supposed 
to give your cell phone a month's worth of power, we'll likely all be 
interested...

Regards, Steve
-----------------------------------------------
Steve Hersey N1XNX
shersey@world.std.com