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Posted: 5/26/2020 11:48:50 PM EDT
[#1]
Tag. Interested.
I have an 897D with batteries and charger but I never use them because it's such a pain in the ass to switch between them and the internal power supply. I've toyed with installing the batteries and then running the rig off of the power supply but it's much less elegant. Honestly I don't even know if it will run off of external DC while the batteries are installed. |
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Posted: 5/27/2020 8:05:43 AM EDT
[#2]
I have had mine for about a year, it came without the batteries. I see options for a 2 pack of internals on ebay for $60, but need the charger still which looks like it costs more than the batteries. Need to do some more research on this - was planning on modifying and fixing my bitx 40 for field day use with an external battery, forgot this was even an option with the 897. Wonder if I can make the Yaesu packs work with the bitx, and have 2 radios, multi band for field day?
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Posted: 5/27/2020 12:16:55 PM EDT
[#3]
I too am looking for a solution. So far I've been chewing on a 18650-type pack with a BMS board but haven't put too much energy into it yet.
A good discussion and some good links can be found here |
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Posted: 5/27/2020 8:29:51 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Tag. Interested. I have an 897D with batteries and charger but I never use them because it's such a pain in the ass to switch between them and the internal power supply. I've toyed with installing the batteries and then running the rig off of the power supply but it's much less elegant. Honestly I don't even know if it will run off of external DC while the batteries are installed. my understanding is its supposed to automatically switch when you plug in external power. I really dont understand the two packs, they should just be in parallel. If building a new pack for it, especially it going lithium it would seem adding a new plug to the radio and using a different charger would be the ticket |
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Posted: 5/27/2020 8:39:55 PM EDT
[#5]
I'm also considering just filling that space with other things like a raspberry pi etc. I saw one guy who took apart his external antenna tuner and put it in there.
Then If I build a little protective cage for the radio I could just install a decent 12v lipo battery with charge controller etc inline with the radio making a longer thin package Thats probably where I'm headed actually |
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Posted: 5/30/2020 11:10:32 PM EDT
[#6]
Oy.. yes ive done many things. And currently im using the factory nimh. Batts.
I used to run a sub-c pack in there routed to the main power plug. It worked, but really i never ran more than 50W. And 20W was more or less std. I also ran lith packs wit diodes to drop the overvoltage. Again, no problem running 50, but usually just ran 20w. Using the factory packs lets you easily run external power if you need it or internal if you dont... At the end of the day it was just easier and more elegant. Pro tip. Its a 6 pin cb mic connector to charge the packs with any hobby charger. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 1:02:12 AM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Pro tip. Its a 6 pin cb mic connector to charge the packs with any hobby charger. that cool to know! |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 1:04:38 AM EDT
[#8]
https://www.batteryspace.com/custom-lfp-18650-flat-battery-pack-12-8v-6000-mah-77wh-2a-rate-w-pcb-7-2.aspx
I'm probably going to go with this Then I will try to fit a solar charge controller inside Run the power cord out and hook to the external power supply. rig it all so it can charge while being used Thats the hope |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 1:09:12 AM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I used to run a sub-c pack in there routed to the main power plug. was this you? |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 8:17:03 AM EDT
[#10]
I have an 897, been on the air with it a little the last 2 years, but never on battery power. The original internals did not come with the rig. I am not familiar with operating with the internals, but I think some videos I watched made it seem like switching between internal battery and home power was not a matter of just plugging in and everything switched over magically?
I am interested in doing to portable with qrp rigs (I am going to call it SOTA light, aka diet SOTA) and building some of my own rigs (waiting on my BITx40 case from India!), so I am going to go with an external LiPO4 from Bienno most likely - then I can run the 897 and whatever else I want. Just not sure which size to get - I think six AH is too little capacity for the 897, 12 AH is too much $. May go with 9 AH, or get a six now and buy another later, then I can take 2 for field day with the 897, and just bring 1 for packing more on the trail with small qrp rigs. But I think the external battery will be more flexible and allow me to easily switch between rigs than trying to do the same with the 897 packs. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 8:39:07 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryNope. But same idea. Some dude even managed D cells but modded the case bottom. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 8:43:14 AM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: https://www.batteryspace.com/custom-lfp-18650-flat-battery-pack-12-8v-6000-mah-77wh-2a-rate-w-pcb-7-2.aspx I'm probably going to go with this Then I will try to fit a solar charge controller inside Run the power cord out and hook to the external power supply. rig it all so it can charge while being used Thats the hope Just be sure it can actually provide the power you need. Not sure on that pack but it says 2A, which wont be anywhere near enough to run it if its a BMS limit. Also 6AH isnt much runtime at full power. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 10:18:32 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Just be sure it can actually provide the power you need. Not sure on that pack but it says 2A, which wont be anywhere near enough to run it if its a BMS limit. Also 6AH isnt much runtime at full power. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 12:36:51 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted: This OP. Don't waste time and money on that battery pack unless you plan to run the radio at about 5-watts or less output. According to the 857 manual, it draws 1 amp on RX, and up to 22 amps at full power TX. Yeah the 897 isnt ideal for battery ops. You can get Rx current to about 600-700ma though. And i thing the 20w draw is like 7A or something. I have external batt box for it and my other suitcase radios in a small repurposed pelican case. I forget the capacity but its like 4x huge zippy li fe po4s. So probably like 35ah and its very lightweight. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 12:43:37 PM EDT
[#15]
I got the 897 because it was self contained... ended up selling it and getting an 857 :( no help to the thread but the 897 just seemed to big/heavy for what it offered.
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Posted: 5/31/2020 12:45:48 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I got the 897 because it was self contained... ended up selling it and getting an 857 :( no help to the thread but the 897 just seemed to big/heavy for what it offered. The advantage is its grab n go. Everything bolts together and you grab it by the handle and go. Its not all that heavy. And you can run it for a decent chunk of a day on internal batts and low duty cycle. I have an 817 and get the whole ala carte lower weight thing. But its just nowhere as convenient. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 1:48:55 PM EDT
[#17]
they do multiple different amp rate packs that was just an example.
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Posted: 5/31/2020 3:48:12 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: they do multiple different amp rate packs that was just an example. Maybe, but honestly, in terms of volumetric efficiency LiFePO4 isn't great, or weight wise. I was using LiPO packs in mine for a while which are way better, aside from the voltage mismatch. And even then I just went back to the factory packs for the ease of use reason, I had 3 LiPo packs stuffed in there for like 12Ah capacity at one point. My only 2 cents with batteryspace is make sure it will actually work for your application and that its worth the cash, they aren't the cheapest option by a long shot. Two of the factory packs will give you 9AH to play with capacity wise. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 7:40:48 PM EDT
[#19]
yeah now that I know what the connector is the factory one becomes a slightly better option, as I wouldnt need to but their ridiculously priced chargers
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Posted: 5/31/2020 9:37:59 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: yeah now that I know what the connector is the factory one becomes a slightly better option, as I wouldnt need to but their ridiculously priced chargers Yeah, Yeasu sucks for those. I use a 30 dollar hobby charger for my needs. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 9:44:21 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yeah, Yeasu sucks for those. I use a 30 dollar hobby charger for my needs. do you have a good 12v and solar controller option you prefer? |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 9:45:07 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yeah, Yeasu sucks for those. I use a 30 dollar hobby charger for my needs. and can you show what charger you've successfully used with the factory batteries? Just trying to not screw this up! |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 9:50:58 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Yeah, Yeasu sucks for those. I use a 30 dollar hobby charger for my needs. also sorry for so many questions do you remember how that CB thing is pinned or have you seen any tutorials on it you can link? |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 10:58:18 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryQuoted: also sorry for so many questions do you remember how that CB thing is pinned or have you seen any tutorials on it you can link? I don't off the top of my head, but just find the +/- leads. I never did figure out what temp sensor leads were though, but honestly the chargers I use wouldn't care and have voltage monitoring cutoffs so its a non issue anyway. I use the hobby king generic version of this. They sent me like 3 for free cuz the balance boards kept blowing out with their LiPo bats, but they still work fine for nimh or nicd. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-accucel-6-80w-10a-balancer-charger-lihv-capable.html I even have the cheaper 10 dollar for 4S lithiums one that I keep in my 817 kit which has worked well. You do need a 12VDC supply for most of these though, so that can add cost, but they will run off wall warts. |
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Posted: 5/31/2020 11:00:11 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: do you have a good 12v and solar controller option you prefer? I have an IRIS SPACES setup for my solar needs. Not cheap but reasonably lightweight and sorta portable if worst comes to worst. But you can once in a while find the kits on ebay. I think people here like either powered or renogy (renology?) something like that. |
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