Hal wrote:
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?

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.

But first, measure the current drain of your panel, and measure the
capacity of your batteries. If you do get new batteries, fully charge
them and measure their capacity, so you know you got fresh ones.

--
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" at www.motorglider.org