[Elecraft] Solar power for the K2

[John R. Lonigro]

Brian:
We have plenty of gel cells for Field Day, and, as you noted, don't 
really need to use the solar panels at all.  However, we get 100 bonus 
points when we make QSOs using a battery charged via solar energy.  You 
can't forget bonus points!
73's,
John AA0VE

Brian Alsop wrote:
> It seems like it would be cheaper and easier to do away with the solar 
> panels and charger. Use the money to buy a few more batteries.  Charge 
> them before FD and you're good to go.
>
> Think about this.  It may even rain on FD!   The solar panels would 
> only be good as an ad hoc umbrella or tent during the rain.
>
> 73 de Brian/K3KO
>
> John R. Lonigro wrote:
>
>> Andrew:
>> This is exactly what we do at Field Day every year.  We "search and 
>> pounce", so our transmit duty cycle is relatively low, but after 
>> operating all afternoon, the 7 Ahr battery used with the QRP K2 is 
>> almost fully charged (assuming sunny weather, of course).  We use two 
>> 5 Watt solar panels in parallel, each costing less than $40, hooked 
>> up to an inexpensive gelcell charger, to keep the battery from 
>> overcharging (probably not necessary with these solar panels).
>>
>> 73's,
>> John AA0VE
>>
>> Paul wrote:
>>
>>> Andrew,
>>> When reading the other posts and seeing those large Solar Panel 
>>> wattages, I think they are using a K2 but with the 100W option. I 
>>> can't imagine needing a 33W solar panel to power the base K2 model. 
>>> On a nice day, I guessing you could hook up a 7 Ahr gel cell and 
>>> have it charged with a 5-10 Watt panel and work for a long time. The 
>>> battery supplies the TX power when you need it and during the RX 
>>> cycle the Solar Panel is catching it for power used.
>>>
>>> You might try posting your question on the Yahoo QRPSolarPower 
>>> newsgroup.
>>> 73,
>>> Paul
>>>
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