[Icom] Lithium Battery Pack..?

Sat, 22 Mar 2003 15:21:15 -0000

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On
> Behalf Of Jerry Curry
> Sent: Saturday, March 22, 2003 2:59 PM
> To: ICOM Mail List
> Subject: [Icom] Lithium Battery Pack..?
>
>
> Anyone out there know if there is a vendor making a lithium
> battery pack to fit the Icom W32A?  I have one on my  'brand
> x' radio and love it.

You could do what I did.  I bought two BP-170 battery packs.  I put some
1850 mah NiMH batteries in them.  The original BP-173 batteries were lasting
me 4-5 hours at 5 watts output.  Instead of NiMH, use lithium.

Here is how it worked.

BP-173	5w out, 650 mah nicd		lasts 4-5 hours
BP-170	1.5w out, 1850 mah nimh		lasts 24+ hours

The lower power was a problem.  I have never done a measurement, but I
imagine the stock rubber duck is -3dB. (Maybe worse?)  So the 5 watt output
gets me 2.5 watts ERP. (Maybe less?)

I changed antennas.  I now use the comet BNC-24.  They claim 2.1 dB gain.
This takes the 1.5 watt BP-170 output to around 2.5w ERP.  One note, I did
add some heat shrink to stiffen the BNC-24 a bit.

So now I can hike two days on one battery pack instead of changing batteries
every few hours.  Additionally, every item I carry on my pack, GPS, strobe,
flashlight, all use AA batteries.  So I carry less spares as they are
interchangeable.  Longer life, less weight, and same ERP.  It couldn't be
better, unless they invent a battery that weighs 1 oz, and runs 5 years on
air!

Mike.  KD9KC
El Paso, TX.