I sold off some unused equipment to pay for a second hand Yaesu FP-30 220 v.a.c. to 13.8 v.d.c. power supply for the QRO kit, namely the FT-897d. The tiny unit easily weighs in at 1.5 kg, just about the weight of a 7 A/Hr SLAB!
This unit simply slips into an unused battery compartment at the base of the 897, the height of the 897 increasing by a cm or so.
An internal battery is a limitation as the QRO setup is limited to 20W output so really, an external battery is better in the case of going higher power (up to 100W) other than QRP for RaDAR on some occasions.
This setup opens other doors. One never knows, even on foot, where you may get access to the grid and use it while it’s still there saving on batteries. RaDAR encourages the use of whatever is available at the time of need. Adapt and improvise!
Looking forward to testing this configuration within the context of RaDAR.
73 de Eddie ZS6BNE
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