The recent events in Southern California have caused me to think about radio design and construction. What else can you do as you sit in the dark trying to preserve the battery life of your phone and laptop.
Well one thing I did do was to order a LiPo 12.8 VDC @ 10 Amp Hours battery and the mating charger. The battery is here but for some unknown reason the charger delivery keeps getting rescheduled. Next week (late) on the current 3rd reschedule. Already in hand are two small inverters. These were purchased years ago so I could operate my SBE-33 mobile.
One is rated at 200W continuous and the other at 300W continuous. With this arrangement I can charge phones and laptops from the battery with the really small sized 200-watt inverter. With the 300-watt connected to my car I charge the LiPO battery. So, the next PSPS power outage (possibly next week) will be test of this concept assuming the battery charger still arrives on schedule.
I also thought the LiPO battery could let me get on the air during the blackout periods.
You probably are asking why don't you just get a bigger power system and not worry about it. Well, that is the rub. The less expensive systems (around $1000) are designed for camping where you operate the generator for a couple of hours a day and that is it. If you want continuous back up power, then it is an order of magnitude in cost ($10K).
Then there are the variants: do you buy a generator system or an inverter system? Most fine print says the inverter is less damaging to sensitive electronics. Want to smoke your beloved IC7300, then connect it to that bargain $190 gasoline generator. That is another issue as most of the attractively priced systems are not available for sale or delivery to California as they do not meet the CARB standard. (California Air Resources Board).
Then there is the fine print ratings where the gas tank can support the generator full out for maybe 4 or 5 hours. One generator spec rated the 2KW unit as good for 10 hours at 1/4 the load. Translated you might be able to run a refrigerator for 10 hours on a tank of gas.
The solar charging systems work but at a small efficiency. I watched a You Tube video of Doug and Stacy Off Grid who installed a 9 Panel Renogy system. In passing, Doug mentioned he had to have a gas generator back up system that had to be used several times for one 30-day period. Cloud cover and hazy conditions from smoke would impact charging. A place like Yuma, AZ with 4000 hours of sunshine a year would be a good solar candidate and Port Townsend, WA would not.
So, the subject line about a block buster rig, a subject of my thoughts over the past two PSPS shutdowns, will now be addressed. Virtually all of my homebrew SSB transceivers are not good candidates for extended battery operation.
I simply never thought of these rigs as always on battery so that was not a design factor. Some rigs would suck the battery dry in short order! My circuit topology was never developed with an eye toward minimum current drain. That battery draw factor would now cause all circuitry to be minimized and limited to the absolute bare minimum.
SDR radios that must be run off of a RPi4/5 now have the current draw of the SBC as a factor. Always ON panel displays are another current sink. A plethora of 3 terminal regulators to keep the analog circuitry from drifting draws current. The huge factor of power output is the 300-pound gorilla in the room. The IRF510 would have to go! A reasonable power output of 1 to 2 watts would net many contacts and useful in an emergency.
So, the Block Buster rig would have minimum components and minimum features. The display could be turned off. The design would enable operation when the battery drops down below 11 VDC. Perhaps CW only as that eliminates a mic amp stage. The power output would be limited to 1 to 2 watts and not spoken of is the band of operation.
I find the bands of operation that would give the max band openings is 20 and 40M. So, if you were limited to only one band then likely 40M which during mid-day is literally dead. That is not so much a problem as with the power out there is natural light available for other activities.
More work needs to be done on this Block Buster Rig. However, a starting place might be a redesigned P3ST. For starters it has only 7 transistors and replacing the IRF510 with a smaller less current hogging device would be a key change. Another is the display and still another is the audio output stage changed to earphone only. https://www.n6qw.com
Them that know can make it go.
73's
Pete N6QW