After improving the connection to the battery and using two of the same batteries in parallel, I tested across all bands.
Setup: ZS6BKW antenna at 45' in inverted V, with 30' coax from twin line to KX3 Most test runs were without balun, some with a 1:1 Two identical 12V/17Ah batteries, starting with 12.8V at no load All bands from 160m to 10m (minus 60m) at mid-CW frequency Power mostly 5W, 7W, 8W, 10W CW Results: 1. The previous problems appear to have been caused by a weak battery connection. 2. Power levels above 5W were maintained as long as the voltage stayed at/above 11V and the current did not exceed 2.0A 3. Only on 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, and 17m a 10W level could be maintained. The other bands dropped down to 5W at levels over 7 or 8W. However, with healthier batteries, this situation might have been better because. 4. The batteries (routinely retired UPS) appear to be getting old and didn't hold their full voltage during this relatively short test. 5. SWRs were generally at 1.0:1 with the exception of 160m (2.6:1 with balun) and 17m (1.2:1 without balun, 1.0:1 with balun) Conclusion: A 12V battery in good condition with solid connections should allow me to maintain 10W power with my setup. I put all measured voltages and currents together in a spreadsheet which I would be happy to share. Please ask and provide an email address, and I will mail it to you. 73, Arno K7RNO ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
