On Jul 2, 12:21*pm, Chris Nicholas wrote:
Can anybody tell me what battery life you get in practice, when
running a transponder from a dedicated lead-acid battery, and what
size battery that is? And what model of transponder is it?

Has anybody measured the actual current drawn during operation, if so
what is it?

I am particularly interested in flights which include some high
altitude, cold ambient operation such as in parts of North America.

I am only interested in modern, solid state transponder operation, not
the older Mode C with a heater for the height encoder.

I have been given figures which suggest that a 7-amp-hour battery
would run one for 12 hours at surface ambient conditions, and I wonder
if anything like that is achievable in practice.

Thansk - Chris N.

Chris N. (In UK, but collecting data from anywhere that has it!)

I run the following:

- Becker 4401 175W
- Becker 4201 Radio
- Cambridge GPS-Nav
- Cambridge L-Nav
- EDW Micro-recorder
- Compaq 1550 PDA

I operate just outside the New York Class B airspace, so
interrogation is essentially constant. All of this runs for a typical
5 hour flight off one 12V/12AH battery with voltage down to around
10.9-11V at time of landing. I have two of these batteries, so
plenty of reserve for long flights. Operations include winter ridge
runs at ambient temps of around 20F, but those are limited not by
battery but by cold soaking of the pilot.

P3