[Elecraft] Flying with K2

[Fred Townsend]

Ignacy raises a chilling point: "Asking is more trouble than help as most
personnel is [are] ignorant of rules and they could create some [rules] to
appear competent." I find this statement to be frightenly true. To use a
data term the system uses forward error correction meaning they install a
new rule after the logically predictable incident. 

Look at the shoe bomber or the panty bomber. A logical response would be to
issue a cautionary to check out young males that look like they are carrying
a full load in their pants or are wearing platform shoes. Instead we all go
through the check point shoeless. Yesterday a 95 year old woman was required
to take off her adult diaper. This is because the screeners are incapable of
making a judgment call.  

Now we understand the capabilities of the screeners. The TSA rules on
batteries are far beyond their capabilities to discern. Many laptop
batteries have been recalled because of fire hazards but laptops will be
given a free pass because the screeners have no clue how to sort the good
from the bad. Besides the business man is the core business for the
airlines. They know if they try to screen laptops the lines will become
constipated. It's not about the function it's about the image they project.

What do we do when carrying a rig through the lines? I suggest we keep our
mouths shut unless they ask. Then reply 'this [object] is a computer
controlled radio for which I am licensed to operate'. Act bored while you
calmly show your license. Chances are the screener will never get past the
word computer. Whatever you do don't try and explain. You will only set off
their alarms.

Note to Matt: There are lithium fire extinguishers. Lithx is specifically
designed to extinguish lithium fires. You might want to get some for your
lab.

73
de Fred, AE6QL

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Matt Zilmer
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 6:46 AM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Flying with K2

Fred is correct about a lot of things below.  Li-Ion and Li-Poly batteries
are generally not allowed to be transported en masse (as
cargo) aboard passenger aircraft.  This is true at least in the US, but I'm
not sure about other countries.  If it's true in the US, the more
safey-conscious Europeans almost certainly have a similar restriction.

I work in consumer products.  We are allowed to transport large quantities
of our GPS receivers using Li-Ion batteries, as long as they're not fully
charged, aboard cargo aircraft only.  Single units may be carried aboard and
transported in passenger aircraft.

Unless your Li-based battery catches fire on a planet with a non-oxygen
atmosphere, the only way to extinguish it is to deprive the fire of oxygen.
Lithium combines with oxygen quite readily, producting a highly exothermic
reaction with a lot of nasty gaseous products you want no part of.

I suspect the same restriction applies to SLA batteries of different
chemistries, in particular bulk storage (large battery banks).  I doubt it
has a thing to do with RoHS, it's probably a safety issue.
RoHS applies only to consumer products that are user-accessible (the Cadmium
in NiCD and lead in lead-acid are not accessible under normal
circumstances).

During a unit teardown in 2007, I damaged the battery pack in a Garmin PND
(one of our competitors), and it caught fire in the lab next to my office.
I breathed a lot of the products as I tried to put the fire out.  Finally, I
used a sheet of rubberized plastic, which burned clear through quickly,  to
smother the fire.  As Fred said, nothing else worked to kill the fire.  We
came this close to clearing the building, and only venting the lab kept a
major hazmat thing from occuring.  I had to go to the local hospital for
observation and toxicity checks.  I got lucky, no issues.

We also handle labeling for our products.  The label for a pallet of GPS
receivers indicates no passenger aircraft transport is allowed. I
confirmed that this IS a TSA restriction.   However, I've shown dozens
of single units to TSA guys and they never ask what type of battery pack is
inside.  I suspect it's mostly a matter of "what you see is what's real".
If a Li-Poly pack were outside the unit, the question might be asked.  If
it's NiCD or NiMH they won't care, but might see the Lithium on their list
of no-nos.  

73,
matt zilmer W6NIA
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