[Icom] Lithium Battery Pack..?

[Jerry Curry]

Mike,

Good idea. I'll hold that as a back up plan in case I can't find a 
vendor who makes a ready to use pack.

Thanks-Jerry
KL7EDK

Mike Olbrisch wrote:

> 
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: icom-admin@mailman.qth.net [mailto:icom-admin@mailman.qth.net]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.
> 
> 
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