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Re: BP500 Questions

 

Thanks Ron for the reply. ?And since you personally own the BP500 I forgot to ask this question. ?Assuming the BP500 batteries are dead how would you hook up an external power source like my back up Bioenno 9 Ah? ?Would I attach it to the DC barrel connector on the BP500 or the DC input on the body of the TX-500? ?Don't tell me the BP500 would have to be unscrewed from the TX-500 in order to use the DC input connector on the TX-500.

Thanks in advance for the answer.

David
K9AT
Re: BP500 Questions

 

Hi David and the gang,
I have had my BP500 for a little bit now and I love it. As to batteries, check out a you tube channel called "Project Farm" he did a real good test and comparison of the batteries we're interested in. HRO sent button top batteries, the other option would be flat top. Looking at the battery compartment, it looks like either would work. The button top batteries I got wouldn't want to be any longer as they pushed in pretty firmly. My understanding of series/parallel packs is that every electron has to go through each cell in a series setup, so the top current available is the rating of one cell. The voltage adds up though. The opposite is true in a parallel setup the voltage remains the same but the amperage adds up, thus the BP500 (3s2p) ,assuming 3000ma (3a) would be just over 11 volts (3.7V/cell) and 6000Ma (6A) Also be aware that the cells with the built in BMS are a smidge (that's a technical term) longer. With button tops, I'll wager that'll be a problem based on how tight mine were in the BP500.

Enjoy your radio, I sure do
73, KC8SFQ/ Ron
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On 2023-11-29 12:26 pm, David Holmgren K9AT "Ruffers" wrote:
Hi group,
As soon as I learned that HRO had this item listed I went ahead and
ordered it. They are obviously filing back orders so I will receive
mine when they catch up. In the mean time I have some questions:
The 18650 batteries come in different capacities such as 2000mAh,
4000mAh, 6000mAh. This might seem like a dumb question but here
goes...I realize 6 of the 6000mAh will have more capacity than 6 of
the 2000mAh, but is that ok to use 6 of the 6000mAh or even higher
capacity if they exist without overloading the charge circuit?
I have several of these batteries already from other projects with
various capacities from 2000 - 6000mAh. Is it OK use various
capacities 18650 batteries in the BP500 realizing I will have the sum
total of the individual battery capacities?
I think some of these batteries have a battery management system built
into each cell. I could be wrong but if they do offer that option
should I purchase those type of batteries?
This one is going to involve some math. Currently with my TX-500 I
use an external Bioenno 9 Ah battery and it last all day running 10
watts of SSB. When I receive the BP500 and install and fully charge 6
of the 6000mAh batteries will that more or less capacity than my
Bioenno 9 Ah battery? I'll take a stab it since I'm an extra...6 x
6000 is 36000mAh or 3.6 Ah? So it's less than my 9AH Bioenno?
I like that fact that you can connect a solar panel directly to the
BP500 with its wide voltage range that it supports up to 50V. I have
an Anker 625 solar panel that I've measured the unloaded voltage with
my DVM to be 28 volts at full sunlight brightness. It's also a panel
capable of producing a 100 watts of power. Will this be safe to use
with the BP500?
What purpose is the 3A fuse for on the BP500?
Finally can I operate the radio while connected to my solar panels?
Since it doesn't involve a solar controller and connects directly to
the BP500 the radio hopefully will not pick up the noise commonly
generated by solar controllers.
I know a lot of questions but I would appreciate any input on the
questions you know the answers to.
As always, Best 73 K9AT
Links:
------
[1] /g/Lab599/message/3763
[2] /mt/102876293/559188
[3] /g/Lab599/post
[4] /g/Lab599/editsub/559188
[5] /g/Lab599/leave/12202542/559188/1635761816/xyzzy
Re: Lab599 Power Input

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

The max a tx500 should draw is 3A at full output. If you limit the power supply to say 1A the radio will not output full power and may do stupid things like reboot because it doesn't have the power it needs to work correctly.
You shouldn't let it draw more than 3A because that likely means somethings wrong. EG you have a short.
A power supply makes some number of amps available but generally doesn't push those amps on to a device so a 23amp power supply or a battery that has a max discharge of 50amps are both fine as the tx500 will only pull 3amps, ASSUMING there is nothing wrong like a short.
You should have a fuse inline between the radio and the power supply however just in case something happens to cause a surge, burn the fuse, not the radio. A 3 amp fuse would be the right size, this lets 3amps in but no more, if you turn power down and the radio only needs 2amps (made up value) thats fine too.

hope that helps and 73
tim w3qp

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Gary Priest (K8JOK) via groups.io <k8jok@...>
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2023 3:03 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Lab599] Lab599 Power Input
?
I believe 3A max refers to the fuse. In any case, your Samlex will work fine!

73,

Gary?
K8JOK?

Sent from for iOS


On Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 13:53, Anthony Hernandez <anthonyhernandez9@...> wrote:
Hello,

I'm purchasing a Lab599 soon and in reading the manual (pg 10), it says "Use a power source or battery with a voltage of 9 to 15 volts and a current of at least 3 Amps." ... In the wiring diagram manual, it says to use 3A Max ...?

So my question is, is it at least 3 Amps or is 3 Amps max? I have a Samlex 1223 (23 Amp) and wondering if that would work for the radio as a power source??

Thanks!

Re: Lab599 Power Input

Gary Priest (K8JOK)
 

I believe 3A max refers to the fuse. In any case, your Samlex will work fine!

73,

Gary?
K8JOK?

Sent from for iOS


On Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 13:53, Anthony Hernandez <anthonyhernandez9@...> wrote:
Hello,

I'm purchasing a Lab599 soon and in reading the manual (pg 10), it says "Use a power source or battery with a voltage of 9 to 15 volts and a current of at least 3 Amps." ... In the wiring diagram manual, it says to use 3A Max ...?

So my question is, is it at least 3 Amps or is 3 Amps max? I have a Samlex 1223 (23 Amp) and wondering if that would work for the radio as a power source??

Thanks!

Lab599 Power Input

 

Hello,

I'm purchasing a Lab599 soon and in reading the manual (pg 10), it says "Use a power source or battery with a voltage of 9 to 15 volts and a current of at least 3 Amps." ... In the wiring diagram manual, it says to use 3A Max ...?

So my question is, is it at least 3 Amps or is 3 Amps max? I have a Samlex 1223 (23 Amp) and wondering if that would work for the radio as a power source??

Thanks!
Re: BP500 Questions

 

Thanks Tim for your input. ?Maybe all these questions are better suited for the Lab599 tech support. ?At least these are good questions to stimulate a discussion within the group :)

73
Re: BP500 Questions

 

I know of no QUALITY Li 18650 6000mA cell on the market.? Most Chinese manufacturers/sellers (disreputable) label their cells way beyond their actual capacity? The best quality 18650 cell that I know of would measure around 3600mA max. Rather than concern yourself with capacity, buy quality Japanese or, rarer still, Chinese cells.? Try Orbtronic to make certain you are using good cells.
Re: BP500 Questions

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

for what its worth:
I THINK the max cell size (2000 or 4000 or 6000mah) should depend on the BMS in the bp500, my guess would be 6000 is fine but would email support and ask. I would expect them to have that in the manual but im not seeing it.

When charging LI-ion bats you dont want to charge them too fast, Most of the time they are rated for 1C charge rate EG 2000mah cell shouldnt charge faster than 2000mah, at any rate you have to check what your cells are specifically rated for. IF you are charging the cells with something that is less or equal to 1C / allows you to set the rate, you dont need the BMS on the cell. If your not sure it is an extra level of safety. Again, i would email support and ask what the bp500 charge rate is, im not seeing it in the manual. Each battery having its own BMS is more overhead though at the end of the day you MIGHT be talking minutes of runtime which isnt likely worth worrying about.

1000mah is 1ah BUT in this case thats 1ah at 3.7v nominal (~4.2v full charge). The bp500 pack is setup as 3s2p which means 3 cells (batteries) grouped in Series together to output ~12v (depending on the charge of the cell?at a given moment).? 2 of these groups are in Parallel together. SO with your 6000 cells if you put 3 in the pack (3s1p) you have 6ah at 12v and if you put all 6 in (3s2p) you get 12ah at 12v. Hope that makes sense. Per the manual you can put 3 or 6 cells in the pack.

The recommended input to the pack is 3a so im going to assume thats the top end, again email support, i would like them to use clearer wording. Anyway, Amps is watts divided by volts so theoretically your panel would output 100w / 28v = 3.57amps BUT I have always heard panels output at most ~70% of what there rated for which is 70w / 28v = 2.5a. So most likely you can use that without issue but its your $400 battery ?.

I dont see in the manual if the fuse is on input or output of the battery but im going to assume the input is fused which means if your solar panel output 3.5amp the fuse should blow before the battery pack burns up. I have no idea what the quality of the fuse is, it might be great but be warned not all fuses are created equal. Someone has a youtube video where they test fuses and show that cheap ones take a long time to blow while 'good ones' are much quicker. One will save your device; one may let too much power pass first and both the fuse and the device will blow. Good luck!

I dont really know anything about your panel but a quick look makes me think there is a controller built in to it but i have 0 idea if its noisy or not. Since you already have it i would say plug it in and find out. If it is noisy, you might be able to put a choak on the cable and be good.

hope that helps and good luck
73
tim w3qp


From:[email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of David Holmgren K9AT "Ruffers" via groups.io <david@...>
Sent:?Wednesday, November 29, 2023 12:26 PM
To:[email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject:?[Lab599] BP500 Questions
?
Hi group,

As soon as I learned that HRO had this item listed I went ahead and ordered it. ?They are obviously filing back orders so I will receive mine when they catch up. ?In the mean time I have some questions:

The 18650 batteries come in different capacities such as 2000mAh, 4000mAh, 6000mAh. ?This might seem like a dumb question but here goes...I realize 6 of the 6000mAh will have more capacity than 6 of the 2000mAh, but is that ok to use 6 of the 6000mAh or even higher capacity if they exist without overloading the charge circuit?

?I have several of these batteries already from other projects with various capacities from 2000 - 6000mAh. ?Is it OK use various capacities 18650 batteries in the BP500 realizing I will have the sum total of the individual battery capacities?

I think some of these batteries have a battery management system built into each cell. ?I could be wrong but if they do offer that option should I purchase those type of batteries?

This one is going to involve some math. ?Currently with my TX-500 I use an external Bioenno 9 Ah battery and it last all day running 10 watts of SSB. ?When I receive the BP500 and install and fully charge 6 of the 6000mAh batteries will that more or less capacity than my Bioenno 9 Ah battery? ?I'll take a stab it since I'm an extra...6 x 6000 is 36000mAh or 3.6 Ah? So it's less than my 9AH Bioenno?

?I like that fact that you can connect a solar panel directly to the BP500 with its wide voltage range that it supports up to 50V. ?I have an Anker 625 solar panel that I've measured the unloaded voltage with my DVM to be 28 volts at full sunlight brightness. ?It's also a panel capable of producing a 100 watts of power. ?Will this be safe to use with the BP500?

What purpose is the 3A fuse for on the BP500?

Finally can I operate the radio while connected to my solar panels? ?Since it doesn't involve a solar controller and connects directly to the BP500 the radio hopefully will not pick up the noise commonly generated by solar controllers.

I know a lot of questions but I would appreciate any input on the questions you know the answers to.

As always, Best 73 K9AT
BP500 Questions

 

Hi group,

As soon as I learned that HRO had this item listed I went ahead and ordered it. ?They are obviously filing back orders so I will receive mine when they catch up. ?In the mean time I have some questions:

The 18650 batteries come in different capacities such as 2000mAh, 4000mAh, 6000mAh. ?This might seem like a dumb question but here goes...I realize 6 of the 6000mAh will have more capacity than 6 of the 2000mAh, but is that ok to use 6 of the 6000mAh or even higher capacity if they exist without overloading the charge circuit?

?I have several of these batteries already from other projects with various capacities from 2000 - 6000mAh. ?Is it OK use various capacities 18650 batteries in the BP500 realizing I will have the sum total of the individual battery capacities?

I think some of these batteries have a battery management system built into each cell. ?I could be wrong but if they do offer that option should I purchase those type of batteries?

This one is going to involve some math. ?Currently with my TX-500 I use an external Bioenno 9 Ah battery and it last all day running 10 watts of SSB. ?When I receive the BP500 and install and fully charge 6 of the 6000mAh batteries will that more or less capacity than my Bioenno 9 Ah battery? ?I'll take a stab it since I'm an extra...6 x 6000 is 36000mAh or 3.6 Ah? So it's less than my 9AH Bioenno?

?I like that fact that you can connect a solar panel directly to the BP500 with its wide voltage range that it supports up to 50V. ?I have an Anker 625 solar panel that I've measured the unloaded voltage with my DVM to be 28 volts at full sunlight brightness. ?It's also a panel capable of producing a 100 watts of power. ?Will this be safe to use with the BP500?

What purpose is the 3A fuse for on the BP500?

Finally can I operate the radio while connected to my solar panels? ?Since it doesn't involve a solar controller and connects directly to the BP500 the radio hopefully will not pick up the noise commonly generated by solar controllers.

I know a lot of questions but I would appreciate any input on the questions you know the answers to.

As always, Best 73 K9AT
Re: latest on the BP-500

 

Just received an email that mine shipped from HRO today. Great early Christmas present! :)
Re: SSB on 10m - strong feedback not heard on other bands

 

All good recommendations.

I¡¯m using the ?W2ENY adapters, so the connector cables are fixed length. The EFHW is typically 25¡¯ or more off the ground using an arborist throw line/weight setup. The antenna is the K6ARK multiband. Mine has a male BNC and connects directly to the radio, no coax. Wit this design, the 49:1 matching unit sits directly on the BNC using a BNC+torrid+PCB setup. This is heat-shrinked, not directly exposed to moisture.

I¡¯m fairly confident the act of placing the radio off the ground versus in my lap on the ground had something to do with the recent success on 10m. Call it the ¡°counterpoise effect¡± as I don¡¯t completely understand what happened. I plan to continue using the elevated radio solution until something else presents itself.

72,

Matt W7MDN
Re: SSB on 10m - strong feedback not heard on other bands

 

Matt,

First , I don't remember what was offered during the earlier version of this thread.?

Relative to the feedback, at 10M, the length of your cables that are connected to the TX500 can be troublesome. Make all the cables, with the exception of the antenna coax, as short as possible. Sometimes, the little clamp-on ferrite cores can help. Try a longer piece of coax between the TX500 and antenna feedpoint (this might help the SWR problem). I know that trying to drive a 100W amp driven by the TX500 can be troublesome when the rig is about 15 ft from the base of a raised (9ft) multiband EFHW vertical.

For the SWR problem, try a different orientation of the EFHW and/or different heights above ground of the feedpoint.? If you add a separate counterpoise wire, attach it at the antenna feedpoint. You can find a large ring terminal lug that fits over the SO239 connector which makes for an easy removal/attachment. If a BNC connection, then use one of the female section mounting screws to attach a small ring terminal lug.

Finally, if you have a longer piece of coax, then try coils (6 to 10 turns close-wound in a 8 to 12 inch diameter) just below the feedpoint, and another one near the radio.

73,
Henry - K4TMC


On Mon, Nov 13, 2023 at 12:03?AM Matt W7MDN via <MD73=[email protected]> wrote:
Resurrecting this thread to report an update.

Over two SOTA activations this weekend, 10m worked like a champ on CW and SSB. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve successfully made 10 QSOs on the TX-500. SWR 1.1 or nearly so using the same EFHW multiband antenna. The only difference I can identify is the radio was sitting on a camp chair approx. 10¡± off the ground both times.

I did purchase the CMC as others recommended but continued to experience the very high SWR with or without it.

?This radio continues to impress. The TX-500 operated in light rain near freezing for an hour (at which time the operator could no longer feel digits and chose to bag it and seek shelter).

?

Re: SSB on 10m - strong feedback not heard on other bands

 
Edited

Since there is no stud to attach a wire to the TX-500, maybe something like this could work. It has an option to add a counterpoise stud.


Maybe it would work if the counterpose and antenna wire are connected to the 'box" well away from the radio and followed by a 1:1 CMC to help eliminate common mode current on the coax feed line.

Although EF and EFHW antennas are popular portable antennas, perhaps the best way to help avoid RFI issues would be to get the antenna away from the radio and isolate the feed line (eg., linked dipole for multiband use and 1:1 inline choke).

--
73, Norm/KC1BMD
Re: SSB on 10m - strong feedback not heard on other bands

 

Just reread some previous replies above.

If one were to attach a counterpoise to the TX-500, where would you attach it and how long should it be?

Thanks.
Re: SSB on 10m - strong feedback not heard on other bands

 

Resurrecting this thread to report an update.

Over two SOTA activations this weekend, 10m worked like a champ on CW and SSB. It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve successfully made 10 QSOs on the TX-500. SWR 1.1 or nearly so using the same EFHW multiband antenna. The only difference I can identify is the radio was sitting on a camp chair approx. 10¡± off the ground both times.

I did purchase the CMC as others recommended but continued to experience the very high SWR with or without it.

?This radio continues to impress. The TX-500 operated in light rain near freezing for an hour (at which time the operator could no longer feel digits and chose to bag it and seek shelter).

?
Re: Question on Digimode Use of TX-500

 

Open up your ¡°working¡± digirig and see which (if any) solder pads are bridged and then compare to the other one.
Re: Minimum Power at 10%

 
Edited

I think getting more power output when you want it is not necessarily a bad thing, but it would be nice to reduce it more than it is able to now.
--
73, Norm/KC1BMD
Re: Minimum Power at 10%

Gary Priest (K8JOK)
 

Hi Norm,

I was curious so I took measurements of my TX-500. I don't have an LP100A but I have an Oak Hills Research analog QRP wattmeter that I recently calibrated. 6m is excluded because I don't think my Oak Hills wattmeter covers that band.

160m:? 1.7
80m:? 1.5
75m: 1.7
60m:? 1.5
40m:? 1.9
30m:? 1.5
20m:? 2.0
17m: 2.1
15m:? 1.4
12m: 1.5
11m:? 1.8
10m: 2.1

I could be off by a tenth here or there as the dial on my meter doesn't have tenths graduations. My numbers are more or less in line with yours though.

73,?

Gary
K8JOK
Re: TX500 and airport security

 

All good info.? The "Portable Electronic" search also gave me a link to FAA site with the statement that these types of devices must be in carry-on.? I have the TX-500 mated with the Lab 599 BAT-500 so I'm feeling like this should be ok?



--
Grace & peace,
Tim AF6TF
Re: TX500 and airport security

 

Thank you Phillip. I have the license and CEPT and will download the band plan. I will be on signing M/N3CI.

Best wishes,

Dave N3CI

?
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