How Long Can I POTA on My Battery??

So you're gonna operate portable. Cool! Now you need to figure out how much battery you might need to operate for the day. The short answer is "It Depends" (doesn't it always???).
Let's take a look at some battery parameters, how LifePO4 batteries are rated, and what we can possible expect for operating life in the field.
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Makerfire Inline Power Meter - amzn.to/3UXq6qc
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[@robertmeyer4744]

nice job ! hard to do math ! so many things with TX amps from radio. your settings makes a difference on power draw and your talking style . with CW your speed has a lot to do with power draw . just get a inline meter . better ones are bi- directional and can take account for solar as well. 73's

[@KS0JD]

It would be nice to have a monitor that would keep track of the power used and store it so you could have a total consumption of power over time so you know when to charge the battery. The batteries BMS probably has that but in many cases you cannot get access to that data. Thanks for the video Jim!

[@AndyAAzeroAM]

Well, data is all fine and good.. Time to go test the theory :)

[@temporarilyoffline]

Juice!

[@LeeMcc_KI5YPR]

So, Jim, how did you acquire this expertise in POTA battery life? 🤔
😂

[@The1Ramsey3]

The meter is definitely the way to go with tracking power consumption. The math on draw vs amp hour isn't quite right. The amp hour rating isn't linear in relation to current x time at all current draw rates. The battery will become far less efficient as larger amounts of current are consumed.

[@45auto]

I have a similar meter in my Amazon shopping list.

[@Frank_K4FMH]

Kevin Loughlin Old Ham Tech just did a nice video on this model of meter (may be branded differently).

[@45auto]

@Frank_K4FMH I saw that one. His is rated for 100A, whereas others are rated for 150A, 200A, etc. I hadn't noticed until someone pointed it out to me. Just something to consider.

[@Frank_K4FMH]

Indeed! They vary quite a bit. I have more than a dozen of these inline wattmeters, ranging upwards of 200A. I routinely out them in battery boxes I build.
Kevin’s YT video was a variant of the one Jim illustrates here. 73 de K4FMH