Intelligent Portable Power for Off Grid Ham Radio
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- Опубликовано: 16 мар 2023
- Portable power for off grid ham radio by DL4KA Oliver of DIY599.
Hello Operators.
Today we are interviewing Oliver DL4KA the popular ham radio designer and manufacturer of the PA500 & PA500E (Expedition) amplifiers. Oliver is just about to release a new LiFePO4 based intelligent power pack called the BAT500.
The BAT500 is more than a simple ham radio battery pack. It is a fully protected, LiFePO4 battery wth integrated MPPT charge controller, 3x DC outputs, protected input and outputs, cell balancing, and much, much more.
Join me in part one of the interview, where Oliver talks about the incredible portable power supply.
73
Julian oh8stn
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Huge thanks for watching.
73
Julian oh8stn
oh8stn.org/blog/2023/03/18/intelligent-portable-power-for-off-grid-ham-radio-bat500/
As a product engineer myself, I really enjoy interviews with "makers". Thank you for interviewing Oliver, I think he is an incredible engineer. I look forward to seeing how this product can be used to give us more flexibility when it comes to off-grid comms, especially Winlink.
Thanks for you response, now back to the drawing board
I don't know much about this stuff, but this is pretty ingenious 💥💥💥
Agreed! It is amazing to see small makers bringing innovation back to ham radio.
73
Julian oh8stn
Semper Fi, KQ4ANE. The PA500 brand just keeps getting better and better 🙌
Beginner here. Halfway through the basic HAM course. Hope one day I will understand what you are all talking about. Thank you for these videos!
I'm thrilled to see the product in stock. Thanks for the great content, 73.
You are very welcome.
73
Julian oh8stn
Excellent design, With 28V input limit from panels it would not take much to throw together a simple step-down to reduce the 36V output from my old panels down to 28V to keep the battery unit happy :-) Thank You for bringing this new product to our attention Julian. Great stuff ! 73 de Paul.
Ready for a part 2
Mahalo Julian. Can't wait for part 2. Can't wait to get my hands on one of those units. Are the cells replaceable? KH6LH
I'll ask Olivery in p2.
73
Julian oh8stn
Thanks Julian! Looking forward to more on this.
All that I can say is wow. You’re content is always right on target. Looking forward to part two.
Another very informative video Julian. Thanks 🙂
You are very welcome.
73
Julian oh8stn
I’m a big fan and thankful for all of your content. Just wanted to thank you for all the great content you’ve produced over the years.
🙏
73
Julian oh8stn
Very nice system.
W5KAL
Looking forward to part two! Thank you for all the work you put into these movies!
as always a great design from Oliver - wish I could get the charge controller for my home made batt packs 🙂
I'm testing one already 😉
Круто получилось!!!
большое спасибо
73
Julian oh8stn
Great presentation, I've very interested. One question - is the 15A fuse an actual fuse or a breaker? If it's a fuse, how is it changed/replaced, I think it said it's internal?
INCREDIBLE products !!!
Absolutely LOVE your channel - (just joined you on Patreon)
However, I must say your reviews of these Lab599 items are getting me into HOT water with the Mrs.
Just orderd the Tx500
But was wondering If you could “predict” the availability of both the PA & BAT 500. You know, better strike while the iron is hot.
She’s threatening to cut my card while sleeping so best I get these taken care of QUICK!!
Keep up the incredible info. I personally have learned so So SO MUCH from your videos (newbie to AR) and I must say that your style is extremely rational. It is very close to what I see my own use being - only in SW Florida -
You know…. Salt, Sand, Rain more Rain & way more Humidity. Brutal on everything.
Hope to connect on air someday.
Love your work. Keep it up.
Thank You again
Eric
I’m waiting for a battery from QRP store, hopefully this is the one.❤
Thanks ,I bought a ft818 from ebay ended up Japanese use only had to send it back, and so far I haven't found one yet to buy, so that's the reason for the ft891
Thanks
A bit off-topic: I just tried your tip of installing a Chameleon whip (CHA-MIL-2.0) on the base of my SuperAntenna and it really made a huge difference. Below 1.2 SWR across all of the 20m band.
Interestingly, although you mentioned that using the Chameleon whip might change the tuning of the coil (rendering the frequency ruler inaccurate), I found that the Chameleon whip functioned _exactly_ on the same coil position for the relevant band as the whip.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestion.
Extremely happy it worked for you. This is still one of my favorite resonant whip antenna configurations.
73
Julian oh8stn
Interesting! I would like more cap for night and cloudy ops tho, like 10 AH, maybe just thicker. But 4 AH is OK with solar power available. Proprietary connectors are a problem, tho, but better than power poles. Jerry wa2omu
A very clever idea and a high quality product.
I imagine that no noise is emitted whilst charging etc.
It looks like a serious piece of kit but probably also expensive.
I think it will be a perfect solution to add to your intense field activations Julian. :)
The Lab599 + the amp and battery/solar charger solution would be one of the neatest kit out there with the PowerFilm added aswell.
This hobby can lead to bankruptcy! 😂
Don, your assertion is an understatement! I have not (and won't) account for the amount of money spent on equipment. If I did I'd probably have a heart attack. ;) And then there is money spent on travel for portable operations.
However, we should also note that the equipment retains a substantial part of the investment in residual value. I told my kids that if I die before I liquidate the various bits and pieces of my "collections" they should not just dump my stuff. They should get help from others who know about my things and they will get near full value.
This includes books (many out of print), radio equipment, etc.
On topic, I'm looking forward to the BAT500 as an addition to my portable kit. I'm thinking that the TX500/PA500/BAT500 station would be outstanding for POTA/SOTA in a small pack with a MS Surface Go and a PF foldable panel.
73 de AG7TX
Thanks
Thank you Bill🙏
73
Julian oh8stn
Slightly off topic but I'd love to see a small review on your jääkäri xl 😊
Will indeed. Incoming worh a gear breakdown before the Arctic Circle Off-Grid 3023 gets started.
Awesome! Looking forward to it ♥️
Very informative. Sounds like he is making your dream battery Julian. I would have jumped on board the TX-500 and purchased a radio, it's just the cable mess detracts from the portability. Is there anyway he could have used a floating contact instead of a cable to power the TX-500 directly and have the flying leads available for peripheral devices? I look forward to seeing the next part of this session, Thanks
Great question and I agree. The cable mess is an issue. It wasn't possible to use the pogo pins for this much amperage. 2-3 amps is OK, more is a no-go. Thankfully, If we only want to power the radio, lab599 has a pogo pin compatible battery incoming. The BAT500 is great for powering multiple higher amperage devices simultaneously.
Hey Julian, a little off topic here but where did you find the audio for all your openings on the "Emergency Broadcast System"? I can't find it anywhere and like all of your videos, it's awesome! 73, de Pete
I made it. 👍
More highly inovative equipment
For our wonderful tx500
Can the battery be replaced from inside it's housing
Thanks KL5CZ
Hello Julian, i am looking at power solutions for the TX-500, however the BP-500 doesn’t seem to be available yet what are the other solutions that are currently available? Thanks
Hi Jullian, This looks like it wil be an amazing addition to the build of of a complete system. I would like to ask Oliver about production and costs. The cost for the amp is way out of reach for many of us. Especially when listed on ebay for auction. Are there any plans in the future to have consistent production levels to meet demand and manage the cost of the units? I beliave these units are almost priced out of market reach. It is hard to really justify the cost of a $3,000.00 + amp. Next, could there posibly be an addition of blue tooth interface to understand and manage elements of power consumpiontion and capacity across the outputs? Thank you Jenn KD2WRM :o)
Hello Jennifer.
Only the expedition model is sold on eBay. That's an auction. The normal PA500 can be purchased from a few distributors in Europe and North America, at much lower cost than the Expedition model.
I sent Oliver the other questions you had. Hoping he will comment here when he reads this.
73
Julian oh8stn
When will be available for purchase and where can we purchase???
When is this available? 🙃
Great video! How would you compare this product to the "DIY LiFePO4 Battery - Pocket Portable" that you demonstrated recently? I was set to build one. One of my "wants" is to be able to charge battery to battery so I am thinking that having a discrete, rather than integrated charge controller might be beneficial.
Thanks for watching and for the question. My DIY pack is cheaper, user repairable, but lacks the extreme protections this one includes. Ultimately, the pocket portable pack is only as good as the builder, builds it.
On a side note. Charging batteries from batteries can be complicated. Source battery needs to be higher voltage than the battery we are charging. We also need to regulate the charge voltage and current.
73
Julian oh8stn
@@OH8STN I have an off grid solar system. Panel > charge controller > Lead acid Battery. The loads are negligible so the battery is almost always fully charged. My plan was to use the charge controller from the DIY Pocket Portable to charge the portable pack from the fixed battery.
Thanks for your videos. The question I have is this I'm running a ft891 with a 12v 12ah that draws 2.0 on Rx 23 on TX what size of a solar panel would I need to keep it changed up while operating, Thanks for your help, I'm new to all this stuff
Sadly, It's a trick question.
The answer will depend on how often you transmit, at what output power, for how long, and on your battery chemistry. From experience, my FT-891 running JS8Call, using a 10ah LiFePO4 battery using a 120-watt PowerFilm Solar panel, could keep running for roughly 12 hours. Naturally, when night fell, that time would be significantly reduced. With radio such as the 891, it's the receive current which destroys our ability to operate for extended periods of time.
To your question.
I got rid of my 891, replacing it with a radio and amplifier with combined current draw of 300ma, and 100-watt TX current of 10 amps. With that same 10ah LiFePO4 anx 100-watt solar panel, I could stay on air for days at a time.
Check out my videos and "reducing current consumption". You quickly find that there is no magic number that anyone can tell you.
Excellent question and thanks for watching.
Take a look at this video: ruclips.net/video/CAUamTA9G90/видео.htmlsi=e8wXam-29AgTGpVc
Great stuff, is the battery or the amp tuner ever going to be able to be purchased?
Is it emp proof?
Good question, complex answer. With long cables connected, the pulse will travel up the cable (which acts as an antenna), and blow the circuit breaker or possibly damage the pack. Without cables, connections are so short, the wavelength of the pulse may not damage the pack at all. This is also true for mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. It's almost impossible to protect any device while it's in use and connected to charging eires. Without an actual e m p test, It's hard to say. What we can say is it is one hundred percent possible to protect, while it is being stored.
As with his amplifier...unobtanium in the US?
Many people in the US have the amplifier (there is one in my bag right now). It is a popular product that isn't made by a major manufacturer, so it can take a while to acquire. But it certainly isn't unobtanium.