I bought two 12v lithium-ion packs off ebay. They have built-in charge controllers and can accept practically any 12v input. The smaller one is something like 3amp/hr and the larger one is maybe 7amp/hr. The smaller one will keep a K1 or KX1 on the air for many hours. The larger one handles the K2/10 and the KX3 for many hours. I also use them to power my auto-tracking telescopes. They are pretty small and light for the amount of power they hold. Even have on/off switches. For larger power needs, I bought a garden tractor battery on Wal-Mart for $25. I have had enough juice to run 100 watts in the field for an entire day with enough left to run a telescope for 4 or 5 hours. To make an even nicer package, I found some plastic battery boxes on Amazon for $9 that encase the battery and have nice carry strap. I mounted a PowerPole distribution strip on the top with strong double-sided tape. I have a Duracell charger/maintainer I bought for a few bucks from a clearance shelf somewhere that keeps the battery ready to go.

I'm not familiar with the R/C batteries But they sound great. I'll have to find one.

73, Doug K0DXV

On 5/15/2013 12:12 PM, EricJ wrote:
I use the 3-cell lipo batteries that I use for my R/C planes. They are small (~1x1.5x4"), 11.1v @ 30A! I've run my K1 or KX1 for nearly a week on a single charge, operating as much as I cared to. R/C use demands lots of current for a relatively short flight of 10-15 minutes. When they no longer deliver a long enough flight, I retire them to ham radio use where they seem to last forever and the relatively modest current draw.

Eric

On 5/15/2013 10:57 AM, Mike Markowski wrote:
For those of you who operate portable regularly, what capacity gel cell and do you recommend for K1? Any particular brands of gel cell and charger?

Weight is not a big issue. I won't be hiking, just trips to parks, qrp Field Day, as well as home use during power outages.

Tnx es 73!
Mike ab3ap
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