Subject: KX1 Battery Modifications
W0rw@aol.com
Date: Sat Feb 28 2004 - 09:53:12 EST
Here is the KX1 - 1/2AA NiCad battery modification... Originally i had 6 'AA' NiCad batteries in my KX1 but i needed more power for pedestrian mobile operation. i removed 4 of the 'AA' NiCad batteries and added 8 - 1/2'AA'-250 short type to boost the voltage to 14 VDC. That raises the output power to 3 Watts. The operating time is about 3 hours on a full charge (depending on your speed and number of "Q's).. These batteries are available from Batteries Plus. They have flat contacts so they need to have a little solder blob added to the + terminal so they will touch each other when in series. These 1/2 AA 'short' batteries (250 mAH) are 7/8 inch long. There is a longer 1/2 'AA' battery that is 1.2 inches long and it won't fit the battery holder. ps: If you make any modification to your KX1 it will void the warranty... --------------- Here is a way to charge the 1/2AA NiCad's without taking the KX1 cover off. (This is not suggested if you are only using primary L91 Li batteries). Here is the modification i made to my KX1. i installed a small 2.5 mm mono phone jack to the lower corner of the battery chassis. You have to drill hole in the chassis. The jack goes right below the auxiliary DC connector J1. This jack has a NC switch built into it so when you plug in the charging plug the batteries are disconnected from the radio and the charging voltage only goes to the battery even if the radio is turned on. The connections are: black wire to the jack ground pin, red wire to the center pin and the NC switch wire to the red wire of J5-1. Now you can operate the KX1 from the auxiliary DC connector while charging the internal batteries through the new charging jack. This modification allows charging internal batteries without taking the unit apart. You can also monitor the battery voltage through this connector. The charger can be any wall transformer that puts out about 18VDC open circuit. The charging current for the 1/2AA NiCad batteries is 50 ma for 5 hours. You will need to insert a resistor in series with the transformer to limit the charging current. They don't get hot at 50 ma. --------- Here is another KX1 battery switching modification. The current design "AND's" the internal battery and external battery sources together using 2 diodes. If your external battery voltage goes below the internal battery voltage, the internal batteries will start draining. i left my KX1 on for a few days and after i ran down the external battery and the internal batteries took over and became discharged. These were the expensive Lithium "AA" Primary batteries (L91's). i wanted to save the use of these Li batteries for special uses like Pedestrian Mobiling: See the w0rw/pm KX1 report on the Adventure Radio Society web site at: http://www.arsqrp.com/ars/pages/back_issues/2004_text/0204_text/W0RW.html Here is the DC J1 switching Modification: The DC Power connector has an unused (normally closed) switch. This modification will use that switch so that when an external power source is connected the internal batteries will be disconnected, and conversely when the DC power plug is removed the internal batteries will be reconnected. Open the unit on an ESD grounded work station. Separate the battery compartment by pulling the battery connector (J1) out. Cut the 2 traces that ground P1-2 "-" (getting scary now)...Top Side.. Now add an insulated jumper wire from P1-2 "-" to the side contact of J1 (J1 is the power connector), The unused switch contact is soldered to an isolated pad just the left of the marking 'Z2'... That's it.... Now you can protect those internal batteries. One other thing that you can do is to set the LED Display Control to "INF" then the LED display will act as a pilot light. 72 de w0rw Paul w0rw@aol.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Sun Feb 29 2004 - 23:50:08 EST