[Elecraft] Thoughts about K2 and solar/battery capacity

[Don Brown]

Hi

We have had a solar powered K2/100 at the last 2 field days. A 35 amp hour gel cell battery and a 80 watt panel was able to keep a K2/100 running all day and night running about 70 watts CW. If you are running QRP then I would think a 7-12 amp hour battery and 10 to 15 watt panel should work for you if you were not going to operate round the clock. A controller would be nice so you don't need to worry about watching the battery voltage. For home use where you would only be operating for a few hours each day the 2.9 amp hour battery like the one in the K2 internal battery option with a 5 watt panel and controller would work. Contests are a little more demanding and will need a bigger battery and panel to keep up.

Don Brown

P.S. I sell a controller kit of my own design that works similar to the MicroM+ but uses a different circuit. $30 for circuit board, parts and instructions.


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Daniel Reynolds<mailto:aa0ni at yahoo.com> 
  To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net<mailto:elecraft at mailman.qth.net> 
  Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2004 10:32 AM
  Subject: [Elecraft] Thoughts about K2 and solar/battery capacity

  What would be the ideal battery size and panel size for Field Day?


  - Daniel / AA0NI
  K2 #3421