[Elecraft] AA primary cell (K1 related) capacity

[Mark J. Dulcey]

Steve Jackson wrote:
> Does anyone know what a modern alkaline AA-size primary cell is rated for,
> in Ampere-hours?  Ttrying to do some back-of-an-envelope comparisons between
> 1800 mAh NiMH cells and Duracell/Energizer class cells.

One site I checked claimed 2800 mAh. Other sites seem to give numbers in 
the same neighborhood.

However, alkaline batteries aren't nearly as good at handling high 
current rates as NiCd or NiMH, so the capacity drops faster at high 
discharge rates. Here's a page with a link to a chart that shows the 
effect: http://www.greenbatteries.com/documents/Battery_FAQ.htm  The net 
result is that an alkaline pack would probably outlast a good NiMH pack 
by about 50% in receive-only use, but might actually last LESS time if 
used for a session that included a lot of transmitting.