My New Ham Radio Power House

Quick overview of my new Fogstardrift 105AH lithium iron phosphate battery.
Link to the battery -
www.fogstar.co.uk/collections...
Link to the charger in the video -
www.amazon.co.uk/HTRC-Maintai...
Link to the DC guys teardown & capacity test video -
• Fogstar's Drift 105A L...

[@stirlingpark6145]

Thanks for the advice - battery and charger have arrived, now for some fun!

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

Excellent, I've no regrets. I wonder if you can get more than 15A from the charger?

[@KS0JD]

Good thing you don't need to keep you beer cold, you would need a bigger battery! Hi Hi 73

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

A compressor fridge is on the cards and this will power it nicely for a few days.

[@johnratcliffe6438]

CTech is the LIFEPO4 charger I went with. I bought a 50AH from Eco-Worthy which was excellent, then imported a Bioenno 40AH from the US to use inside my Powerwerx battery box. My FT891 loves the juice! 73, John 2E0SVB.

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

CTech is good gear. I was close to buying the 50ah Eco-Worthy a while back. Lifepo4 is the perfect voltage for radios.

[@d3w4yn3]

Great post, appreciate the background on this, now I want to buy one!

[@pcfreak1992]

It's worth noting that a lead acid battery with the same Ah rating is not storing the same amount of energy. Lead acid can only safely be discharged to 50% of their nominal capacity, while LiFePO4s can be discharged 100%. In order to compare cost and space requirements, you actually need to double the lead acid.
On top of that lead acid batteries make a terrible choice for amateur radio, as the voltage drops quickly to a level below the minimum voltage for most radios. So unless you use a (potentially noisy) DC-DC converter, you can't even get those 50% out of them.
Thankfully, LiFePO4s have become a much better option in recent years and the Fogstardrift looks to be quite nice. This is probably the first one I see which has a built-in heater and I am wondering why it's not already standard on all batteries 😄

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

100%, I had this in my "script" but totally forgot to mention it. Lifepo4 for the win 🏆

[@timg5tm941]

Looks a great bit of kit Colin. Look forward to you using it

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

Thanks Mate. One for long term operation for sure.

[@brianfields4479]

Looks great, look forward to seeing more portable operation videos before your summer ends.

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

Thanks Brian, things getting back to normal in the house so hopefully soon.

[@QSkyLive]

I have a Mose 50ah battery from Amazon which has been awesome though I like the idea of built in app etc in these. Might consider an upgrade. I also have the same charger which is great but incredibly (RF) noisy, if I plug it in in my house all HF bands are wiped out! Great video, thanks for the review. Jason GU7DAI

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

Thanks Jason. TBH a 50 is likely ample for me. This has loads of headroom though. I've heard that about the charger from many. The chargers are not cheap for these.

[@adyg6ad73]

I have the same charger. It’s excellent 👌

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

The fan is noise but at least it keeps it cool.

[@m0aze611]

Hi Colin, great vid, I’m also a Ultramax fan and have a similar array to yourself. I have a TS590 for field use when I’m not doing QRP and would like to use on holiday. You’ve given me food for thought maybe something more akin to 30 Ah. Thanks for your thoughts and analysis. 73 Mike

[@MM0OPXFieldRadio]

Thanks Mike. Yeah a 30ah is good option. My 18ah will still be my go to battery generally.