The IC-705 In Fixed Station Mode

For me, the Icom IC-705 radio has been a very frustrating radio. One one hand, as a transceiver it's typical Icom. That means it's great. Icom builds excellent radios, and their user interface is the result of almost two decades of tweaking. It is perhaps the best in the industry. It's also, by a long stretch, the easiest radio to run on digital modes next to the IC-7300, which says a lot. The internal design is an engineering marvel, particularly considering how cool the little radio runs, even  under constant digital mode operations (by comparison, the new Yaesu FTX-1 gets hot enough to light cigarettes off of).

On the other hand it's typical Icom in some not-so-good ways. An awkward case design, poor RF shielding, limited on-board battery capacity, a over-sized tuner that seems an after-thought, outdated connector technology (MicroUSB vs USB-C), a single combined HF & UHF/VHF antenna connector, overpriced accessories, and the need to buy expensive software (Icom's RS-BA1 package) just to get the radio to run properly on digital modes.

Honestly, the easiest way to get over most of these shortcomings is to buy an IC-7300 and take it to the field. The IC-7300 is a better field radio than the stock IC-705. There, I said it.

This leads to what will be a contentious observation. The IC-705 can be a better shack radio than the IC-7300. Not out of the box, of course. It takes some work (and expense), but it is possible to piece together a radio system, with the IC-705 at the center, that meets or beats the IC-7300 in fixed base operations. 

So why can the 705 perform better than the 7300? Two things: wi-fi and Bluetooth. These two features, not found in the first generation IC-7300, can make shack operations much more effective. The built-in wi-fi capability allows you to take your radio control interface remote, to the next room or the next continent. Bluetooth is much more 'local' due to it's limited range, but the radio's Bluetooth capability means it can connect to a variety of Bluetooth devices like headphones, microphones, speakers and other devices.

(Let me pause and mention an elephant in the room - the new IC-7300MK2 which is hitting the store shelves as I write this. This new Icom has built-in network capability, but not wi-fi. You still need to hard-wire it (via CAT6 cable) to a router or other node, which can be wireless. So the IC-7300 gets us further down the road in terms of connectivity, but it's not natively wi-fi capable.) 

OK, so what's needed to get the IC-705 up to snuff as a fixed station radio? Here's my list:

• An amplifier with an integrated tuner. I'm using a HobbyPCB Hardrock 50 amp with a built-in tuner and a Bluetooth IC-705 interface (another good use for Bluetooth). The interface automates band switching and antenna tuning from the IC-705. A very slick and effective integration.
• Duplexer. The 705 is both HF & UHF/VHF, but only has one antenna connector. Antenna switching is a real pain, and reflects one of the 705's design shortcomings. An antenna duplexer can fix this, so you can move from HF to VHF seamlessly without worrying about antennas and SWR. A duplexer is a bit clunky to drag to the field, but works fine in the fixed station mode.
• Bluetooth headset & microphone. A feature that can free you up to move around the shack, or at least relieve you of the tyranny of the corded microphone. I use Icom's own VS3 Bluetooth mic & earbuds. It works quite well and allows me to roam in Bluetooth range and still engage in conversations. It works well with a wide range of Icom (and Kenwood!) Bluetooth enabled radios.
• Software. The worst thing about Icom's RS-BA1 software is that you MUST have it to run digital modes, because of the 705's RF shielding problems. That said, the software is useful in this fixed station mode because of the radio control it provides over wi-fi. It also does an excellent job of out-boarding the band scope functionality. When connected via wi-fi I can carry my laptop to anywhere that I'm in range of the wi-fi node (my home wi-fi or my phone hotspot).
• Remote tuning knob. Nobody's made a good remote tuning knob for desktop rigs since Ten-Tec left the market. Their Model 302 remote knobs with keypad were exceptional. I used one with my Jupiter and it fundamentally changed how you operate the radio. One of the best features was that the remote plugged into the radio and controlled it directly. I know hams who bought Ten-Tec radios specifically to get that remote knob functionality, it was that good. Today, with the exception of Elecraft and their K-Pod, no other manufacturer offers a direct connect remote knob for their radios. Icom, however, comes close. Their RC-28 remote tuning knob doesn't connect directly to the radio, but interfaces with it via the RS-BA1 rig control application via USB. In typical Icom fashion, it very well built, over priced, and offers only limited functionality. But the functionality it does offer is well executed in the RS-BA1 software interface. I have my RC-28 configured to do frequency steps up/down with button clicks, initiate a tuning sequence, change pre-amp settings, and can be used as a PTT switch when using a Heil headset. 

When wired up, this combo makes a very good fixed station setup. Everything works quite well, plus there's the added bonus of having VHF & UHF available, and DSTAR (important in Georgia for state-wide emergency coverage).

Hams get grumpy when a radio doesn't offer all the features they want. I'm as guilty of this as anyone. But I also come from a communications environment - the US Army - where most radios were modular. You had the transceiver as a single low power unit, but then you were issued a separate battery module, power supply, amplifier, digital interface, antenna matching unit, vehicle mount, and more. Nothing was 'all-in-one', and this is a sound approach for ham radio. The IC-705 is a very good hub around which you can build an effective fixed station setup. But in the field, trying to operate at more than 10 watts... like I said, you're better off with an IC-7300.

W8BYH out

A New Computer and Oh, What a Mess

In my last post I discussed a bit about my search for a new computer. At the time, I was keeping an eye on the pricing moves for two computer models, the Microsoft Surface 13" laptop and the ASUS ProArt 13. Both get good reviews and feature the new SnapdragonX ARM-based CPU

Well, I got tired of waiting and watching. I took the recommendation of an on-line reviewer that I trust and I bought an HP Omnibook 14. WalMart was offering it at a good price, several hundred dollars below both the Microsoft and ASUS units. Like the Microsoft and ASUS computers, it uses the SnapdragonX CPU.

Why Snapdragon? I'm after the advertised improved battery life the CPU offers, plus I've never played around with a computer that runs that processor. Since the Snapdragon processors use the ARM architecture and not an x86 one, I knew there were likely to be some compatibility issues with certain apps, but I figured I'd give it a go. What can I say, I like living on the edge.

My intent was to create a stripped down Windows laptop for use in the field. Something running a lean version of Windows 11. Only the absolutely essential Windows services, and no local or cloud-based Copilot spyware. As much as I like the idea of a Linux computer (I'm currently experimenting with a Mint-based laptop and desktop), I still need Windows in the field for one critical ham radio app - Winlink. 

Unfortunately, it seems Microsoft has other plans for my new laptop. It shipped with Windows 11 Home edition (as most do these days). Win11 Home no longer allows the creation of local accounts - you MUST connect to the Microsoft Borg via the internet and use a Microsoft account to activate the operating system. Until you do that, the new computer you paid good money for won't work. You will be assimilated. 

I'm not being dramatic here. Microsoft openly and somewhat crassly admits that their intent is to turn the computer you paid for into little more than an AI-driven dumb terminal that is hard-wired to Microsoft's Azure-based sales, services and gaming ecosystems, and snoops on everything you do.

So my OmniBook arrives, I go through the Microsoft setup process, reboot and... Good God, the bloatware! Why the hell does an operating system keep trying to stuff useless ads and announcements in my face? It's pervasive - it's EVERYWHERE. And it's not just Microsoft. HP has loaded their own layers of bloatware onto the computer that overlaps with Windows. Bottom line - as delivered, Windows 11 isn't an operating system, it's crapware.

Within 30 minutes of firing up this new laptop for the first time, I was thinking seriously about putting Linux Mint on it. Windows 11 is that bad.

The good news is that help is available. I ranted about my frustrations on Facebook, and a good friend contacted me to let me know about a couple of apps that de-bloat windows. The one I tried is called Revision (revi.cc). Revision acts as a configuration manager. When you run it, Revision goes in and makes configuration and registry changes to Windows 11 that switch off the bloatware and spyware settings. As far as I can tell, Revision doesn't delete anything (unless you direct it to), it merely turns off those bits in Windows that allow all the bloat. Revision will also shut down Copilot and Microsoft365. This breaks the cursed hard link to OneDrive and Copilot in the cloud.

Revision accomplishes a lot, but it can't do everything. Since it only touches the Windows settings I still needed to manually delete all the HP crapware. Then there was the annoying default directory settings for things like documents and photos that kept pointing to OneDrive, even though I shut down the OneDrive application. Revision doesn't correct this, but the fix is easy - go to the local folder properties window, click the Location tab and reset the target location so it doesn't point to OneDrive (or click Restore Default).The fact that you have to do this yourself, and Microsoft doesn't make it easy to find instructions on the process, reinforces my feeling that Microsoft doesn't give a crap about the individual license holder. 

The effort, however, was well worth it. Revision did a great job of shutting down the bloatware, breaking the OneDrive and Copilot dependencies, and stripping Windows down to it's basic role as an operating system. I highly recommend it.

And yet I know that Windows, in all its bloated glory, is bubbling just beneath the floorboards, waiting for any opportunity to pop back up. Windows is always just one update away from a version that will trigger a procedure that blocks Revision and other third party Windows configuration apps. How do I know this? Well, a few days ago I did a Windows update on the laptop, and to my surprise, the Microsoft Store app was back, flooding my Start and Search menu windows with annoying ads for garbage I have zero interest in. This is an app that I deleted when I ran the Revision software. Somehow, some way, the Windows update snuck the app back in. Microsoft isn't going to give up, and they hold all the cards when it comes to Windows configuration options. I have no doubt that once the number of Windows installs that have Revision (or a similar tool) applied crosses some unstated threshold, Microsoft will decide enough is enough, and it will punish the peasants by blocking these configuration apps. Bastards.

 W8BYH out

'Tiz A Week Before Christmas and All Through the House, Not a Creature is Stirring, 'Cuz I'm Clicking the Mouse

I'm sort of obliquely back in the laptop market, looking for a new laptop to use in the field with my radios. I'm a geek, and I spend a good bit of time on websites and YouTube channels that review hardware. It's a hobby. This means that I have a list of curated sites and search criteria that I turned to when I kicked off the laptop search. 

The requirements are simple - a laptop that can be used outdoors (more rugged than a standard laptop, but not necessarily 'toughbook' standard), has a daylight readable screen, a back-lit keyboard, good battery life (a real 8 hour minimum), a good selection of ports (USB-B, USB-C, HDMI), a good CPU and enough system RAM and storage to get the job done. It also needs to be reasonably priced (not cheaply priced, but reasonably priced) and run Windows 11. Sorry, Apple need not apply. Many would say my requirements fit a 'business-class' standard, and I would agree.

The problem I'm finding is that may reviewers, even the good ones, don't want to spend much time reviewing business -class laptops because they are commodity items and, even worse, are just so boring. B.O.R.I.N.G. These are the laptops bought by the hundreds or thousands by Big IT to hand out to their workforce like Moon Pies at a Southern Baptist bible camp. Generally they are good computers, but they are... BORING.

Today's laptop reviewers seem to want to focus only on gaming, AI, immersive graphics and sound, fast wi-fi protocols, gobs of CPU cores, pen compatibility and Cinebench scores. Computers with mid-range specs, or laptops the emphasize other attributes like rugged construction or screen readability in direct sunlight get passed over. I don't need (or want) bleeding edge performance (and commensurate pricing), I want...

• an outdoor readable screen, 13" - 14"
• great battery life
• rugged construction
• a good selection of ports
• backlit keyboard

Since it's Christmas season, there are dozens and dozens (but certainly not hundreds, as YouTube would have you believe) of laptops on sale right now, but something's gone wacky with the pricing. I'll spot a really good price on an interesting laptop, and I'll bookmark it to go search for a competitor. But when I come back the pricing I saw just a few hours before (not days or weeks, but hours) has changed, and rolled back up to a higher price level. This has happened with Microsoft Surface laptops and Surface Pro tablets, and a whole range of ASUS and HP laptops on several major on-line retailers like Amazon and BestBuy. I know there are pricing algorithms working in the background to dynamically push and pull pricing based on number of search hits, available stock, competitor's offers for similar units, etc., but this is friggin' ridiculous.

Twenty-four hours ago this same laptop, on the same vendor's website, was $750

Hey computer retailers, guess what this results in? It results in me not buying ANYTHING you have on offer. You've screwed yourself. Congrats.

Next up, I think we'll talk about operating systems.

W8BYH out

A Surprisingly Good Little Four-Banger

Recently, I found I needed a simple 'four-banger' calculator with an easy to read display. Something that can easily and quickly do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, with maybe a few storage registers, square root and exponents. Nothing too complex, just a simple scientific calculator.

I checked my pile of old HP calculators, and nothing fit the bill (plus most of my old HPs have achieved collector status, and I don't want to use them as daily drivers). Checking HPs website, nothing is on offer that's reasonably priced. There's the HP Prime, which is way too complex for what I need, and a commemorative edition of the classic HP-15C, which is way too expensive for my tastes. A very good calculator, but just too pricey. I want something cheap - in the $10 - $20 range, so if I lose it or beat it up I can replace it and not feel bad. HP does offer the 300s+ Scientific Calculator model for $100, but that's too much for what looks suspiciously like a re-badged Casio.

Alas, it looked like I'd need to go to the Dark Side, and consider a non-RPN (reverse polish notation) calculator. There's plenty of them available, probably over 50 models from various manufacturers. Amazon has page after page of them. A few weeks back I took the plunge and ordered a Casio fx-300es calculator. It's inexpensive, just ten bucks on Amazon, and billed as a 'standard' scientific calculator. It's anything but 'standard'. The darned thing is so frustratingly complex that after just 10 minutes of poking the keys I put it aside. I'm sure it's a crackerjack calculator - it gets great reviews - but if I can't figure out how to use a calculator for a simple equation, say 25 x 60, within two minutes of opening the package the problem isn't me, it's the calculator.

Back to Amazon. After a bit more shopping I decided to take another $10 chance on a model that's been on the market, in one form or another, for almost 50 years (!), the Texas Instruments TI-30. I've had a natural dis-inclination for TI calculators for decades. They were HP's major competitor, and I much preferred HP's RPN operating system. Plus, EVERY early TI calculator I owned or used exhibited quality issues. In the late 70's, TI made a conscious corporate decision to go cheap on their calculators. The TI algebraic operating system was solid, the calculators themselves were not. Keys would stop working, LED displays would start dropping character segments. battery packs would crap out at the worst time, like during an exam (ask me how I know). 

I owned at least two early-ish TI calculators, an SR-51 and a TI-59. I bought the SR-51 while I was in college. I couldn't afford even the cheapest HP calculator, so I had to settle for the SR-51. The TI-59 was my father's (he much preferred the TI algebraic operating system), and he gave it to me when he retired. The SR-51 is long gone, but I still hold onto the TI-59 for nostalgia reasons.

Anyway, back to the modern iteration of the TI-30, the TI-30Xa. I figured I'd swallow my pride and give TI another chance. Hey, it's only a ten buck gamble, so if the calculator is a complete fail I'll give it to my grandkids to play with.

To my surprise, and reluctant delight, this is a great little calculator! The keypad is well laid out and the selection of functions is remarkably complete, to include DMS < - > DD conversions. It has three storage registers (I rarely use more than two), the display is a multi-segment LCD and readability is great (by comparison, only my HP-11C comes close in terms of contrast & clarity), the build quality is quite good, and the keys have an almost (blasphemy alert!) HP-like 'snap' to them.

Comparing displays. The TI-30Xa is the hands down winner.

Drawbacks? Just one that stands out. The printing of the 2nd key labels can be a bit hard to read, but that's about it. 

I'll go out on a limb and say this is the best general purpose scientific calculator on the market today. The $10 price tag is just icing on the cake. Why does it work so well? Simple - it doesn't try to be more than it needs to be. The display is clear and crisps because it doesn't have to display complex equations or symbols. The keypad is well laid out. All critical functions are 'first key' operations. The feature set is limited compared to more advanced calculators like the HP- 11C, but I'm not going to be doing matrix functions or advanced statistics on this little TI. Again, it doesn't try to be more than it needs to be.

Sadly, for HP fanboys like me, this is a calculator that HP should be making. HPs last foray into the general purpose scientific calculator was the HP-35s (above). It was a very good calculator but HP stopped production on it about 3 years ago. There is still a strong demand for a simple and inexpensive scientific calculator that uses RPN. C'mon HP, you can still do it if you try!

Until then, it's the TI-30Xa. I've never said this publicly before, but here goes - great job, TI!

W8BYH out

What's Got My Attention - Late 2025 Edition

It's late November and we're past the hyperventilating wonder of the 2025 releases of new radios like Yaesu's FTX-1, or yet another Xeigu (this time the 6200). I'm looking around at the pile of press releases, new product announcements and feature enhancements that might interest me, and there's only three that have held my attention through much of the year - two radios and a firmware upgrade. 

The two radios are updates to existing products, but build on the success of the current platforms (which were already very good), and offer truly new and useful capabilities.

The first is an update to the classic, and ubiquitous, Icom IC-7300. The IC-7300Mk2 will be released in a few months, and I understand evaluation models are already in the hands of testers. The 7300Mk2 builds on the success of the original 7300, which is still for sale and is a great buy at current prices. The Mk2 adds reduced power draw on receive, reduced phase noise, an external RX antenna port, an ethernet port, USB-C, built in software server support (basically the server piece of Icom's RS-BA1 rig control software), HDMI video and audio output, and a few firmware gimmicks like CW decode. 

Back of the Mk2 model, showing the new connectors

As long as Icom doesn't screw with the original IC-7300 features that I really admire - the excellent but little understood 'Emergency Mode', and a native quiet scan function that makes the 7300 the default choice for folks looking to run ALE - the Mk2 looks like a great, and truly useful, upgrade to the original IC-7300. A great radio made greater.

Next, the newly released Lab599 TX-500MP. A few years ago Lab599 teased out that they were taking their successful TX-500 field radio and re-configuring it as a true manpack rig. This new concept incorporates a built in battery pack and antenna tuner. Lab599, like most companies, got hit hard by Covid, and had the extra whammy of being a Russian based company, with Russia-based manufacturing. The Ukrainian dust-up also impacted them, and drove them to move production out of Russia and to the UAE. Through all this, Lab599 was able to keep production running and introduce a few new projects. The announcement of the manpack version generated an incredible amount of interest within the intersecting QRP/POTA/SOTA/EMCOMM communities. 

TX-500MP. Look Ma, no VFO dial!

While many low power HF radios hint at being built for the outdoors, none are ruggedized in a true sense. They are not shock resistant or even remotely water resistant. They are just small and easy to drop in a backpack. Lab599, however, started their product design for the original TX-500 with the premise that it was going to be used outdoors in harsh conditions. This resulted in a radio that was highly water and shock resistant. While the radio (sadly) has never been certified to meet to any industry or MILSPEC water resistance standards, it never-the-less has developed a reputation as a highly water resistant and rugged unit. 

The original TX-500 was (and still is) a successful radio, but it looks as though Lab599 wanted to take the product design further and develop a fully integrated and fully sealed rig. My suspicion is that Lab599 is after government and commercial contract with this radio, customers that want a more fully enclosed and idiot proof rig. The first thing you notice with the TX-500MP is the lack of knobs, and for good reason. Rotating knobs, like a VFO knob, tend to be major points of failure on any radio - they get knocked off or bent, and the encoder seals leak, letting in water or dust. 

Lab599 recently posted pictures of TX-500 radios that had been used by Siberian
reindeer herders, and returned for repair. The radios all worked, but
many were missing their VFO knobs. Do you think any current production
Icom or Yaesu HF radio could withstand this much abuse?

Eliminate rotary dials and replace them with push buttons, and it becomes much easier to fully seal the radio against water and dust intrusion. The TX-500MP isn't a radio for someone trying to hunt POTA stations or work contests. It's a radio designed to support voice or digital operations on pre-determined frequencies or channels. As far as I know, ham radio operators have never had access to a fully water resistant HF radio unless it's a very expensive commercial, marine or military rig. The TX-500MP brings a high level of field ruggedness to the ham radio world at a reasonable price. There's one on my shopping list.

My last item of interest falls into the 'teach an old dog a new trick' category. Elecraft's flagship HF rig, the K4, came with a neat audio tool built into the firmware called called Controlled Envelope Single Sideband, or CESSB. CESSB is a compression technique that increases signal output by up to 4 dB, with no distortion or splatter. In the real world it can almost double the effective received audio. Think of a 100 watt rig sounding like a 200 watt rig, in terms of signal power at the receive end. Last year Elecraft started to hint that, because the K4 and both the KX2 and KX3 share the same digital transmit processing lineage, it might be possible to implement CESSB in the smaller KX QRP radios. In the last few weeks, Wayne Burdick, N6KR, one of Elecraft's founders and the principal designer of the KX2 & KX3 radios, announced that they will be releasing a CESSB firmware upgrade for both the KX rigs. The firmware is still in testing, but Wayne reports they see no critical issues that will keep it from being released. This would have the effect of making a 10 watt KX2 sound like a 20 watt rig at the receive end. 

An extra 10 watts for free? I'll take that!

Elecraft as a company continues to impress. The KX line of radios is over 10 years old. While that's not 'old' for a ham radio (Icom still sells an HF radio that have been in production for over 20 years), most manufacturers end firmware updates and support within just a few years of introduction. Elecraft is the exception. They still tinker with the firmware and push out bug fixes and updates as they appear. That they are about to release a major performance upgrade to two legacy radios, do it for free and fully support the upgrade is remarkable. It's one of the reasons I'm a big Elecraft fan.

When the CESSB update comes out, I'm looking forward to testing and tinkering with it on both my KX2 and KX3. It may well satisfy my 'lust' for a QRP rig that provides more than just 10 watts. I can finally take that Xeigu G90 out of my Radioddity shopping basket.

So of all the ham radio hoopla of 2025 - new HF rigs, new HTs, new mobile rigs, new antennas, etc. - these three releases are the only things that really grabbed and held my attention. Everything else was, honestly, boring or disappointing..

W9BYH out

Light the Path

At our last club meeting, several members gave back-to-back presentations on POTA/SOTA/field operations. All the talks were good, and even old dogs can learn new tricks... 😀

There were a few fairly new-ish hams in the audience, and after the presentation I heard one of them comment, "Goodness, there's just so much to learn. I don't know where to start". This fellow hit on one of our major problems in ham radio. There's too much to do, and too little direction.

Think back to the early days of Amateur Radio in the US. Let's use 1947 as a starting point. WWII was over and many servicemen were starting their civilian lives with a interest in radio and electronics. The things the military taught them had 'clicked', and radio electronics was a growing field. Amateur Radio licensing saw a surge like it had never seen before. Guys who a few years before had manned CW keys on ships in the middle of oceans, or from foxholes in Europe or the Pacific, wanted to keep doing it from the comfort of home, for fun. 

In the mid-20th century, the Amateur Radio learning and progression process was pretty well laid out, and every ham had to follow it. You started out with a teacher and guide - an 'elmer' - who taught you CW, radio theory and practical operations on the VHF & HF bands. You took a test, got a Novice license from the FCC (which was only valid for one year). Under the guidance of your elmer, you concentrated on code speed, more advanced radio theory, improved your operating practices, maybe built a kit or two under his tutelage. You were learning and practicing the fundamentals with the training wheels on. Before that  year was up, you toddled down to the local FCC field office and sat for the General class written and CW exams. If you passed, your training wheels came off and you could begin operating with the big boys. What's important in this paradigm is that the training wheels didn't come off until the new ham was rock-solid in the fundamentals of radio theory, design and operations, and that someone was by his or her side for the the entire journey.

Today the licensing process is much different. You buy a book or look on-line, study the answers to the questions (let's be honest, we've all done that), take a fairly easy exam, get a license and buy a toy. Some just sit and stare at the toy (an HT), and wonder what's next. Others have been watching and listening, and soon understand that there's an unbelievable range of things you can do in ham radio, but to a new ham the choices can be overwhelming. This highlights one of the fundamental problems in Amateur Radio today - elmer is dead. The concept of an experienced counselor who will guide a new Technican through the process of becoming an experience Amateur Radio operator is... well, it's like the weather - everyone talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.

(And no, the internet is not an Elmer, and AI won't help you get over mic fright or talk you through the  RF issues in your setup.)

The broad expanse of things new hams can do in the hobby is fascinating, and intimidating. This often drives people away, or causes confusion and a lack of focus on the fundamentals.

I was a victim of this myself. In 2003, when I got my General ticket, I was going to rule the Amateur Radio world - CW, SSB, VHF voice & packet, RTTY, PSK, APRS, satellite comms, fixed base and mobile HF operations. I tried to eat the elephant in one bite. For a few years I struggled. I did most things merely OK, nothing particularly well. I burned time, effort and money until I decided what I really like is long-haul HF operations and EMCOMM. My journey was not a waste, not at all. But it could have been a straighter path if someone had just whispered in my ear "focus boy, focus".

Too many choices and nobody to light the path. The breadth of ham radio activities can be what 'saves' amateur radio, but unless we get the concept of one-on-one guidance baked back into the system, we'll continue to see disappointingly high attrition rates among newly licensed Amateurs.

Have you ever guided anyone through their ham radio journey? Has anyone asked you to be their guide? Think about 'elmering' as the equivalent of a church ministry. It's what you do to support, give back and help the 'church' grow (and no, I'm not equating ham radio to a religion, it's just a metaphor). So, help spread the gospel to a congregation of one - be an elmer.

W8BYH out

More Battery Chemistry Talk

In ham radio, we pay a lot of attention these days to lithium iron phosphate - known as LiFePo or LiFePo2 - batteries. They are all the rage, and they really are good - great performance, lightweight (compared to lead acid batteries), lots of neat features like Bluetooth integration for battery monitoring, and thanks to the Chinese, remarkably low cost for the larger capacity units.

Before moving on from this brief LiFePo battery discussion, I have to pause to sing the praises of a little company out of California called Bioenno. My observation is that Bioenno, with their very high quality, small capacity batteries (3 Ah up to 20 Ah 12 volt units) is almost singularly responsible for introducing the benefits of the LiFePo battery to the American ham radio community. Bioenno also bends over backwards to support the ham radio community not just with excellent products, but with excellent customer support and expert advice. Whatever success the Chinese LiFePo battery manufacturers have today in the American ham radio market (and it's a lot), they owe credit to Bioenno and its early efforts with ham radio. Now, on to today's real topic.

On this blog I've discussed a lot of battery chemistry types. LiFePo, but also regular lithium ion (ya' know, the ones that catch fire, explode, and can't be extinguished), regular lithium, lead acid (for over 100 years, the ham radio power standard), NiCad (as late as 4 years ago, Yaesu was still selling new production radios with NiCad battery packs), and good, old, leaky alkaline. But one battery chemistry flew under my radar until fairly recently, and now I'm giving it a serious look: nickel-metal hydride, or NiMH.

Actually, I've known about NiMH batteries for a long time, but not by their chemical name. Instead, I've known them by a major commercial brand name - Panasonic's Eneloop brand. While NiMH batteries don't have the capacity or run time of lithium or even alkaline batteries, they come close, plus they are rechargeable and don't leak or burst into flames.

I got re-introduced to NiMH when I purchased my Elecraft KX3. The KX3 comes with an internal battery tray and charger that can take AA size NiMH batteries. It's an awkward charging setup, and it's slow, but it works and it allows you to power the rig at low output levels without an external battery. Plus, there's little danger of leaking cells damaging the radio if they are stored in the radio.

My foray into the world of NiMH batteries has revealed an odd little sub-culture of battery geeks who love testing different chemistries in different devices. It seems that there's a lot of respect out there for the NiMH chemistry, and a lot of respect for the Eneloop brand. So much so that on many forums the terms NiMH and Eneloop are interchangeable. Within the limiting physical envelopes of the AAA, AA, C & D-cell form factors, it seems NiMH offers the best power delivery chemistry that is rechargeable, doesn't leak, and is non-hazardous. 

The undisputed champ of AA-sized power cells are the lithium batteries made by companies like Energizer (Energizer Ultimate Lithium). These things are not just good, they are very good. I've had some installed in my wi-fi enabled smoke detectors that have lasted years, and still put out plenty of voltage. But they are pricey - about $1.75 per cell if bought in bulk through Amazon. If you grab a supermarket 4-pack, expect to pay almost three bucks per cell. And, they are not rechargeable. This makes them uneconomical to use in a high drain device like a transceiver. 

Alkaline batteries still rule when it comes to a 'penny per watt' calculation. I go through a lot of them, and buy them in bulk from Amazon (the Amazon Basics brand). They are a great power source for high drain devices like an HT - good power output for their size, and reasonable run time. Very economical. But the damned things leak. I'll only use alkaline batteries in cheap electronics, or use them in important electronics like HTs for specific events (camping trips, local ham radio event support, etc.), then toss 'em. I throw away a lot of alkaline AA batteries each year, and I feel better for it.

NiMH batteries are not inexpensive, but the are rechargeable and safe, so the total
cost of ownership is actually on-par with alkaline cells

Back to NiMH batteries. Panasonic isn't the only manufacturer. As you can imagine, a lot of companies make them. Some are quite good (like Tenergy), and some 'off' brands that have interesting back-stories. The most famous one is the rumor that the Ikea LADDA brand of rechargeable batteries are actually re-branded Eneloops. But most of the NiMH batteries sold through on-line retailers like Amazon are, in my experience, poorly made garbage. I just stick with Eneloops, and buy them on special.

Right now NiMH batteries power my KX3, I'm testing them in an HT, and I have them installed in two of my larger table-top receivers that I want to have ready to go at all times without worrying about leaking alkaline cells. These table-top radios use D-cells, and I'm running a NiMH battery brand called EBL in them.

Here's my current battery management philosophy. Critical low use devices that I want to have always ready to go without worrying about batteries get NiMH cells installed in them. I don't really expect the NiMH cells to power these devices for very long - a few hours perhaps. But when they do die, I have alkaline cells ready to replace them for the remaining emergency period (power outage bad weather, etc.). When the emergency is past, the alkaline cells get tossed, and recharged NiMH batteries get put back in. This way I know the radios, flashlights, lanterns, etc. are ready to go, but don't have to worry about alkaline batteries leaking and ruining the devices. I've had to throw away far too many expensive electronic devices due to leaky alkaline batteries. I use them, but I no longer trust them.

W8BYH out