[Elecraft] Re: FD W4ZV 1B QRP Single Op

[al_lorona at agilent.com]

>          Thanks for a very nice FD transceiver!  By the way, it
> barely made a dent in my 75AH deep cycle battery plus small
> 180 ma solar panel.  At the end of the operation, my battery was
> reading 12.71 Volts, which indicates nearly a full charge.  Since
> I was relegated to mostly S&P-ing, I probably could have used
> a 7AH battery for the entire contest!  
> 
>                                  73,  Bill  W4ZV 
> 

No kidding, Bill. For this, my first FD with the K2, I ran about 70 W. I
only operated maybe five hours-- the rest of the time was spent with my
5-year-old son (his first camping trip)-- and only made 160 contacts,
but I barely made a dent in a 35 A-h sealed lead acid battery. I had
taken so much battery power with me, and I never needed more than this
single battery. I was amazed. Now I know for next year that I may be
able to use this one battery if I scale back the power a bit, and for
sure if I run QRP. I usually do run QRP, and now regret that I didn't do
so this year. I will next year again.

Al  W6LX