[Elecraft] K2 KPA100 and battery

[Don Wilhelm]

LS,

The battery will do fine if it has sufficient capacity.  In fact, you 
can connect a small power supply to the battery to keep it charged and 
operate that way forever if you want.  A fully charged lead acid battery 
should normally produce 13.8 volts with the charger connected.
FUSE THE WIRES NEAR THE BATTERY FOR SAFETY - batteries have a lot of 
energy, and can produce flying bits of molten metal if a short occurs.

I would highly recommend a fully sealed battery (SLA or AGM) if it is 
physically in the shack, most deep cycle or automotive batteries do not 
qualify for the sealed requirement, and they will outgas hydrogen which 
can explode and must be housed in a well ventilated area.

73,
Don W3FPR

lstavenhagen wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Well I'm reconsidering and thinking again of adding the KPA100 to my K2 (the
> contest this weekend has changed my mind a bit hi hi). 
>
> My question is, do I need a regulated 13.8V PSU to do the tests and
> alignment or can a 12V battery be used? I have a huge deep-cycle 12V that I
> use with my rigs (enough to power them for a long time) but of course being
> a battery it's not regulated and exhibits some voltage drop when a load is
> put on it.
> Looking at the build manual it sounds like they kind of want you to use a
> regulated PSU (i.e. for the bias adjustment, etc).
>
> I'd like to avoid having to spend the extra to get a PSU that I don't really
> need. But then again if I do need one...
>
>   
>