Portable Power Source

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I'm looking to make a portable base station, kinda like what'd be mounted in a car, that can be carried in a bag for use out in the field. I've figured out the antenna and base station situation. But I'm looking for advice on how I could power the whole set up in field without access to conventional power sources.
 
It all depends on how much power you need and how much $ you have. For 120V, you can't beat those little Honda suitcase generators. Small, super quiet and fuel efficient. If you can stay close to the car, run it all on 12V. How long will you operate? Can you lug a charged deep-cycle battery there and re-charge from your car?

If you're going QRP then a portable, flexable solar panel is probably what you want.
 
I planning on only running it for short bursts, 10 min at the longest. It'll be powered off the rest of the time.

Using a deep cycle battery might not be a bad option. Just wondering how I'd get the radio to run off the battery. Would I need an inverter?
 
Many rigs run right off 12V. I have a Yaesu FT-875D that is a 100W HF rig that runs from 12V. Actually, for a full 100W it needs 13.8V, which is what your car's 12V system is at when the engine is running. On 12V(straight battery) is falls back to 20W, which is only a 1.25 S-unit reduction in transmit power. MFJ sells a small box that will boost 12V from a battery back up to 13.8 so you can easily get full power from a battery.
 
The transceiver probably comes with a power cable with a fuse. Most all hams put an Anderson Powerpole connector on the cable. Then a Powerpole on their AC powered supply in the home shack and one on the cable from the battery. You can put a battery booster like this MFJ one between the battery and radio to keep a solid 13.8V going into the radio. If you look at the booster you'll see between the banana jacks are the square Anderson Powerpole connectors.
 
I would get a big 12-14v lipo battery and a good lipo charger unit. Much lighter than a wet battery and lots of juice.

Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk Pro - typos are from the GD auto correct unless they are funny substitutions those I'll take credit for.
 
Well, what is your base station? This is important to know if people are going to advise you on what to use for a power source.

There's a few options, 12v battery with some ability to charge it like solar panels or other alternator powered by a gasoline engine or an AC generator.

I have a small Honda generator that I bring camping, it's 800 watts with two 110v outlets and a pair of 12v terminals to charge a battery. I've used it to power both AC operated rigs and as a charger using the 12v terminals to keep vehicle deep cycle batteries charged.

Are you looking for something that is man portable or something that can be carried with you in a vehicle and used at a stationary location?

Please expand on your needs.

After re reading your post, get a generator that also has a 12v connection. Make a pigtail for your vehicle battery and plug it in to maintain a charge. This gives you the best of both worlds. You can pretty much run any radio you want on it.
 
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+ 1 for the Anderson PowerPole method for interconnecting your gear. I use the 30 and 45 amp with the crimp tool and good 10 or 12 gauge "boat cable" for jumpers and it's really the only way to go if you want to keep everything interchangeable, (mostly) idiot-proof, and consistent. All the 'factory' connectors have been snipped off of my radios and other gear and PowerPole connectors crimped on.

http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/

Also, a big +1 for the Honda line of portable generators. Quiet, light, and starts every damn time.

I use a 90 amp hour AGM battery in a Minn Kota battery case with a PowerPole pigtail wired to the terminals. It's a heavy m f'er but it's meant to travel in the truck between my home and cabin up in Maine, and not really meant to trudge through the woods. Still, I have a collapsible hand truck to save my back.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/20511018?...39826950&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=34887320710&veh=sem

I made up a small junction box that does a few things: It takes in 13.8 VDC from a regulated power supply, and sends power to whatever loads via a RigRunner distribution box. It also sends power to the AGM battery when connected to the 13.8 VDC supply and keeps it topped off. When the supply stops feeding the RigRunner (blackout, genny runs out of gas, etc.), it instantly starts pulling power from the battery without skipping a beat.

photo.JPG

http://www.powerwerx.com/powerpole-...ogleShopping&gclid=CLry6dPHxb8CFQMT7AodY04A-g

http://ki0bk.no-ip.com/~pwrgate/LLPG/Site/Welcome.html

And to monitor the power going out of and into the battery, I use one of these which can be put in line between the battery and load / charger:

http://www.powerwerx.com/digital-meters/dc-inline-watt-meter-power-analyzer-powerpoles.html

I would like to pick up one of the MFJ power boosters to be able to get 13.8 VDC out of the 12 VDC battery but haven't pulled the trigger on one yet.
 
We were all noobs once. And this is the kind of hobby where if you want, the learning never stops.

What's your interest in ham radio, prepping?
 
We were all noobs once. And this is the kind of hobby where if you want, the learning never stops.

What's your interest in ham radio, prepping?

Yeah I'm looking to get into it for emergency communications and the like.

My goal right now is to set something up that's man portable and longer range than an HT.
 
Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCuGf21tGSc

Not going to be able to run 100W with that battery but it's certainly better than a HT.

She is cute....I have to admit that watching her throw the slick line into the tree made me laugh when I saw how it was scattered all over the ground. I kept waiting for her to accidentally hoist herself up the tree!
 
She is cute....I have to admit that watching her throw the slick line into the tree made me laugh when I saw how it was scattered all over the ground. I kept waiting for her to accidentally hoist herself up the tree!
You ought to see me with my slingshot with fishing reel attached[laugh]. I have to play-out a few feet of invisible line before shooting the 1oz weight. I've had it tangle on the reel and twigs on the ground. Too often there is a loud snap and my weight goes off into the woods by itself[rofl] BUT, when it works, it really works. On my last vacation I put a line over an 80' pine tree with the first shot.
 
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