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Old July 5th 09, 08:23 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Hal[_2_]
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Posts: 28
Default Battery life when running a transponder

On Jul 4, 1:16*pm, Eric Greenwell wrote:
Hal wrote:

With a becker transponder, 302,303, Dittle radio, and pda 4700 I get
about 3 hours on one 7amp/hour battery. *Most of the flight at 14k and
above. *When I fly in congested areas altitude is lower but 3 hours
seems to be about all I get there also. Older batteries get less. *I
also have a hook-up for PCAS but I was not using it this week (in
shop). *The solar option on the glider would be nice as that helps.


Your setup sounds like it would have less than 1 amp draw, which would
give almost 6 hours off a new 7 AH battery. Have you measured the actual
draw? What is the battery voltage at the end of 3 hours?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

* "Transponders in Sailplanes"http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* * * Sections on Mode S, TPAS, ADS-B, Flarm, more

* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" atwww.motorglider.org


Not very scientific but I go until the dittle radio starts blinking
then I switch to battery 2. Maybe I should look into where I am
buying the batteries. They are power sonic ps1270f1 purchased at a
local electronics store.