‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ WHILE DEEP CYCLE SLA BATTERIES ARE OFTEN RATED FOR 300 TO 500 CHARGE CYCLES, DEPENDING ON HOW FAR THE BATTERY IS DISCHARGED. I HAVE SEEN REFERENCES THAT RECOMMEND LIMITING SLA BATTERY DISCHARGE TO ABOUT 50 OR LESS FOR BEST LIFE. CONSIDERING WHICH ONE TO GET BIOENNO OFFERS A WIDE SELECTION OF BLF SERIES LIFEPO4 BATTERIES RANGING IN CAPACITY FROM 3 AH AMP HOURS TO A WHOPPING 300 AH. WHEN CONSIDERING WHICH BATTERY TO GET, TAKE A LOOK AT HOW MUCH CURRENT YOUR RADIO REQU ENCLOSURE. THE PC BOARD IS SCREWED INTO THE BACK PANEL AND FOUR SIDE PIECES PLUG INTO SLOTS IN THE BACK PANEL WITH RECTANGULAR PLASTIC TABS KEEPING THEM IN PLACE. THEN THE FRONT PANEL IS PLACED OVER THE ASSEMBLY, AGAIN HELD IN POSITION WITH RECTANGULAR TABS. FINALLY, LOCK EVERYTHING TOGETHER, FOUR SCREWS RUN FROM THE FRONT PANEL TO THE BACK. NO NUTS ARE USED THE SCREWS ACT AS SELF TAPPING INTO THE BACK PANEL. ITS PROBABLY WORTH THE PRICE OF THE KIT JUST TO BE ABLE TO SEE HOW THIS CASE GOES TOGETHER. HOW IT WORKS THE FULLY ASSEMBLED UNIT HAS THE POWER SOCKET ON THE LEFT AND TWO SCREW OUTPUT TERMINALS PLUS A GROUND TERMINAL ON THE RIGHT. A STANDARD COAXIAL POWER CONNECTOR, WITH AN OUTSIDE DIAMETER OF APPROXIMATELY 0R22 INCHES, FITS THE POWER SOCKET. ON THE LEFT CENTER OF THE BOARD IN FIGURE 6, YOU CAN SEE THE FOUR TIMING CAPACITORS TO THE LEFT OF THE IC AND A SET OF PINS USED TO SELECT THE FREQUENCY RANGE. THE JUMPER IN THE PHOTO IS AT THE 10 100 HZ POSITION LABELS ARE ON THE FRONT PANEL. THIS JUMPER IS SIMILAR TO THOSE USED TO SET SELECTIONS ON PC MOTHERBOARDS YEARS AGO, BUT IT HAS A LONGER TOP, SO YOU CAN PICK IT UP EASILY. ON THE RIGHT IS A SCREW TERMINAL STRIP WITH ONE GROUND CONNECTION, A SECOND TERMINAL FOR THE SQUARE WAVE OUTPUT, AND THIRD FOR BOTH THE TRIANGLE AND SINE OUTPUTS. SELECTION OF EITHER A TRIANGLE OR SINE OUTPUT IS MADE WITH A JUMPER AT THE TOP RIGHT LABELED TRI/SIN. THE PRINTING ON THE CASE COVER IS SLIGHTLY BLURRED BUT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE EASILY READ. HOW WELL IT WORKS AFTER ASSEMBLY, I APPLIED POWER AND DID THE SOLID STATE EQUIVALENT OF A SMOKE TEST I PUT MY FINGER ON THE SINGLE IC, AND IT WAS NOT HOT. SO FAR, SO GOOD. THEN I TOOK A LOOK AT OUTPUT WAVEFORM ON MY OSCILLOSCOPE OR TRIED TO. NO MATTER WHAT I DID, I COULD NOT GET MY OSCILLOSCOPE TO TRIGGER AND SHOW A STABLE WAVEFORM. WELL, MAYBE IT WAS TIME TO READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. ONE OF THE INSTRUCTIONS SAID THAT APPLYING MORE THAN 12 V MAY MAKE THE CIRCUIT UNSTABLE. OOPS. I AM USING A 12 V AUTO STORAGE BATTERY TO SUPPLY 12 V DC TO MY SHACK AND WORK BENCH. OUT CAME THE VOLTMETER, AND I SAW MY TRICKLE CHARGER WAS KEEPING THE STORAGE BATTERY AT SLIGHTLY MORE THAN 13R6 V. I DISCONNECTED THE KIT FROM THE STORAGE BATTERY, CONNECTED IT TO A 12 V POWER SUPPLY, AND SUDDENLY THE WAVEFORMS WERE STABLE. MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE READ ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS. TABLE 2 SHOWS THE MANUFACTURERS SPECIFICATIONS. WHILE READING THEM, YOU HAVE TO NOTE CAREFULLY WHERE THE GOOD REGIONS APPLY. THEY ARE NOT UNIFORM ACROSS ALL CONDITIONS. THE ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ