Yaesu FT-60R power questions

[Greekman]

A fellow prepper asked me for a powerbank for his FT-60R.
But before advising him further i want to check out these:

1. A look at both the European and the US Manuals shows that the European version of the radio charges without a cradle.
Specs are 12V and 200mA for the charging unit.
Assuming a powerbank capable for 2A is connected, is there a chance that the radio will draw more than 200mA?

To complicate the issue further, in the US manual it also mentions a shorter charging time with use of the SBH-13 cradle charger.
US manual page 11 - http://yaesu.com/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=8034&FileCatID=151&FileName=FT%2D60R%5FE%5FOM%5FUSA%5FEXP%5FEU%5FENG%5FEH017M209.pdf&FileContentType=application%2Fpdf
EU manual page 11 - http://www.yaesu.co.uk/files/FT-60R_Operating%20Manual.pdf

2. Yaesu offers the E-DC-5B  car charger adapter and the E-DC-6 DC cable and specs input to the radio as 6-16V DC.
Can one -not only charge- but operate the radio with these cables?
Anyone has an idea of the amp draw?

[FreeLancer]

Since I've got the FT-60R and a cradle, I tested the current draw with a clamp meter in various configurations.

Charging in the cradle, it drew a consistent 0.3A.  Charging using the internal circuitry drew a consistent 0.2A.




Interestingly, the FT-250, which uses the same battery and cradle, drew up to 0.4A.  But this radio has no internal charging capability and must use the cradle.




The 60 will operate without the battery installed, but I can't pick up such a low current draw with a clamp.  On transmit, the readings were erratic and nonsensical, but I believe this must be due to the impact of the close proximity RF interfering with the Hall Effect clamp meter.  Something I'll need to keep in mind for the future.

[Carl]

You really want to regulate charge current to about 200 Ma .

It is a 7.2 volt 1600 Mah battery and charging at much over 200 to 250 Ma will cause battery heating issues and likely shorten battery life.

Great post FREELANCER!  +1

[Greekman]

freelancer, you are a jem.
But I got to ask...
what was the power source when
- you charged the radio without the cradle
- operated it.
cos in the manual there is explicitly state the the radio should not be operated with the charging adapter.

You really want to regulate charge current to about 200 Ma .
It is a 7.2 volt 1600 Mah battery and charging at much over 200 to 250 Ma will cause battery heating issues and likely shorten battery life.

maybe, but it is withing the sepcs of Nimh to be charged at even 1C, and usually a charge of 0.5C is suggested.
Even so, the guy I mentioned is among other things SAR medic, so ability to operate precceds battery life within certain bounds

BTW I may have made my own powerbank but there seem to be some ready made options.
Some even advertise amp capability at 2-3.2A!

[FreeLancer]

Well, in looking for the model of adapter, I realized the cradle is running at 16V.  The PA-43B AC adapter plug fits both the cradle and the radios, it's what I used in all the above current measuring configurations. 




I dug out the other Yaesu adapters I have, one is a 12V DC adapter and the other an 12V AC adapter.  So I charged the 60 using the AC and measured current again.



The battery wasn't as discharged as it was on the first tests, but I did get a reading of 0.2A with the radio on and off.

[FreeLancer]

Got some more data after running the battery down today.  I captured some pictures of the operating voltage, which comes up briefly when the FT-60R is first turned on, using different charging inputs.


When using the 12V AC adapter directly to the radio it displayed 12.1V, with a draw of 0.3A.




Using the 16V AC adapter directly to the radio it displayed 15.7V, with a draw of 0.3A.




However, when using the 16V adapter with the cradle the radio displayed 8.1V, with a draw of 0.3A.

[FreeLancer]

Yeah, I know, if I'd actually read the sticker on the bottom of the cradle, I would have seen that, while the input is 16V, the output is 8v. 

[Greekman]

I think I am sortign this out.
8V cos the battery -of 7,2V- is charged directly.
Else 12 or 16v because an onboard charging circuit is charging the battery.

also...in this pic
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5755/22315166878_2b13073eca.jpg
did yuo have to split the cable to measure current?

[FreeLancer]

Yes, the clamp goes around one lead. If you do both leads the current flows cancel each other out. 

[Greekman]

I did not know that..thanks for this...

[FreeLancer]

It's really nice to be able to measure current without having to position the meter within the circuit. Especially when the currents are large.

But a clamp doesn't work so well in the milliamperes range and for this application it's right on edge. This has me curious though, so I may rig up a setup to get some more precise readings for you.

[Greekman]

you don't have to do it for me. I am OK

[FreeLancer]

I forgot that I had the appropriate Yaesu plug with PowerPoles installed on one end, so it was pretty quick to hook up the DMM with this cable I made up for simple plug and play functionality (much less chance that I hook stuff up wrong!).  It was so much easier, in fact, that I should have done it from the beginning.  But these readings correlate well with those from the clamp meter.

[Greekman]

aha1 taht gave me an idea to measure my radio's draw .
Split the red/black powerpole asembly, and insert the DMM leads between the reds...