[MRCA] PRC70 battery meter

Wed May 13 14:36:10 EDT 2026

Ray -

If you are interested and have a moment when you get to the Hamvention, I am bringing a PRC-70 with a simplified battery concept using 16 of the A123 Systems ANR26650M1B
Lithium Iron Phosphate Cells (LiFePO4) with a simplified off-board charger. The radio has the A4-Modified with low voltage shutdown ( <19.5 volts). Good performance and much lighter weight.

All the best,

Jim
KA8TUR

Jim Karlow
4907 Oakwood Court
Commerce Township, MI 48382
E-Mail: jkarlow at comcast.net
Tel: 248-961-2034
________________________________
From: mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net <mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of Mike Feher via MRCA <mrca at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 13, 2026 11:09 AM
To: 'KD2GIY' <kd2giy at gmail.com>; 'Ray Fantini' <RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu>
Cc: MRCA at mailman.qth.net <MRCA at mailman.qth.net>; 'MMRCG' <mmrcg at groups.io>
Subject: [MRCA] PRC70 battery meter

Here is a cheap and ideal meter to use in a battery box. They draw negligible current. These are small and only cost 5 bucks. Part number G29153 ` Miniature 4V to 30VDC 2-Lead 3-Digit Blue Digital Voltmeter
<https://theelectronicgoldmine.com/products/g29153?_pos=1&_psq=G29153&_ss=e&_v=1.0> from Electronic Goldmine. I bought 4 of them. 73 – Mike

Mike B. Feher, N4FS

89 Arnold Blvd.

Howell NJ 07731

908-902-3831

From: mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net <mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of KD2GIY via MRCA
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2026 3:17 PM
To: Ray Fantini <RAFANTINI at salisbury.edu>
Cc: MRCA at mailman.qth.net; MMRCG <mmrcg at groups.io>
Subject: Re: [MRCA] AAR Hagerstown MD MV Show

Ray,

I'm glad to see my PRC-70 is doing well! LoL

I should have left the charger with you.

I am going to do the same battery mod to the PRC-70 battery box that I did with my new to me PRC-320.

That battery you're using is very small compared to the box. But I plan on putting a larger battery in there with a voltage meter so I can make sure I never go down and voltage and damage the radio.

Out of all your videos that I enjoy watching, you do not have any videos on the PRC-70.

And there are no videos on YouTube on it at all.

I'm sure many will concur with me when I request a video at least on the operation of the PRC-70

And how the internal tuner works with the beep sounds.

Just an idea.

Best regards
Dave
KD2GIY

On Mon, May 11, 2026, 10:45 AM Ray Fantini via MRCA <mrca at mailman.qth.net<mailto:mrca at mailman.qth.net>> wrote:

Hard to Imagin today but once that was one of the biggest shows in the east. Think several years of rain and the high price of gas killed it. Did drag the mutt out and operated the RTTY and Voice Nets on Saturday with the 0900 RAT Net working well but the MMRCG Voice USB net settled around 7285 with a LSB station being right below making 7280 useless and we only had occasional interference with some AM station deciding to call out CQ on 7288 and wiping out N2MS on a couple transmissions. KE8ULR and WF2U were solid and W1NZR popped up around the end of the net so we all went several more rounds.

N2IA, K1HF and I all played around with different frequencies and radios on 51.0, 7.280 and 3885 with a number of radios on Friday from the WS-19 to KD2GIY PRC-70 that I have to admit works really well with his small Lithium or whatever battery pack he built, played with that radio a lot and the battery was solid.

With the dwindling attendance, rain and the fact that they beat me down for $50 for my space have to wonder if I will keep doing that event at the same level. Let's hope Hamvention is better.

Ray F/KA3EKH

________________________________

From: mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net<mailto:mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net> <mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net<mailto:mrca-bounces at mailman.qth.net>> on behalf of MilComm Guy via MRCA <MRCA at mailman.qth.net<mailto:MRCA at mailman.qth.net>>
Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2026 3:38 PM
To: mrca at mailman.qth.net<mailto:mrca at mailman.qth.net> <MRCA at mailman.qth.net<mailto:MRCA at mailman.qth.net>>
Subject: [MRCA] AAR Hagerstown MD MV Show

I left at 8pm Thursday night, arrived Friday morning 830am a good 12hr drive from Maine.  This is the first time I have been to the show so I was not sure what to expect.

  The show is on the apron/ramp area to the aviation museum, the wind was strong and caused problems with holding anything down.   The vendor area was about 60% empty, I think there were 12 or so MV's on site.  I sold a few items I brought pretty much right away, the crowd was ok but thinned out quickly.  I met up with Bernie first then Ray showed up around 11, I also talked with Jeff and met Tom for the first time.  I attempted a field repair on Ray's mutt exhaust but the down pipe was badly deformed and would not seal, no new pipes could be found at the show so repairs will continue at Gilbert.  Mil comm gear was scarce, I saw one PRC-25 they wanted $500, a good supply of MV antennas and brackets, one vendor was using a WWII radio to hold his canopy down.

I returned on Saturday at 8am, the rain was in full force and it rained all day.  There were about 6 vendors left and I did not see anyone else coming in.  Ray set up for the teletype net at 9 and that's when I decided to leave for home.  I met up with Alex in NJ to pick up a TW100F radio which was pre planned.  Traffic and rain were steady all the way home and I did not land home until 0200.

I purchased a battery hold down and pioneer tool kit for my HMMWV and a bunch of 50cal ammo cans that were a screaming deal.  The sponsors of the show were very friendly and did a good job, I think the price of fuel and threat of rain killed it.  Given the distance I think I will probably just stay with the Gilbert show given it's track record, it's also a 12hr trip for me.

Mark

K1HF

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