[Elecraft] KX3 Solar backpacking power advice

[Lynn W. Taylor, WB6UUT]

It's been a while since I've been backpacking, but this got me to 
thinking....

If you're actively hiking, you can't really hang a panel on your pack 
and plan on it being pointed at the sun.  That means either staying put 
to charge batteries, or bigger panels for faster charging, or bigger 
batteries for the days you can't effectively charge, or something like that.

Is solar charging in this case even practical?  The bigger the panel, 
the heavier the load.

A quick and dirty, conservative calculation suggests that the lithiums 
would be good for a couple of days of "a few hours" at 5 watts.  
Probably twice that at "an hour or so."

73 -- Lynn

On 5/2/2016 9:02 AM, Walter Underwood wrote:
> If you don’t mind non-rechargeable batteries, AA lithium primary cells are the lightest option. They are about 0.5 ounce each, so a 3000 mAh set weighs 4 ounces. Carrying a spare set of those will be lighter than a solar panel. They are also 1.5 V, so you get 36 Wh from a set instead of 25 Wh from a set of 2500 mAh NiMh cell.
>
> On May 2, 2016, at 7:53 AM, Joe Moffatt <joe at selectconnect.net> wrote:
>
> Anyhow, I am trying to figure out what to use for portable solar rechargeable power while backpacking in the mountains.   My typical trip will be 2-3 days, a few hours a day operating primarily CW.   5 watts is fine for CW....
>