Introduction: $5 Pocket Solar Battery for QRP Radio Transceiver

By Apple Mountain

It seems too good to be true but you can put a pocket solar powered battery on your QRP radio for $5.

You'll need a soldering iron and a few odd's and ends.

Step 1: Get the Goods

  1. First, head over to ebay and pick up a Solio Mono-A for $3 free shipping.
  2. And get a 4-pole audio jack for $1.00.
  3. You will also need a 47k ohm resistor. 1/4 watts should be fine.
  4. A foot or so of 4 conductor wire is needed.

Step 2: Fire Up the Iron!

  1. Solder one conductor of the wire to the connections for the 4 pole jack.
  2. Make a note of which wire goes to the tip and each sleeve.
  3. The tip is the positive voltage.
  4. There are three rings. The center ring is the ground.
  5. The other two rings are for the resistor. Solder the 47k resistor to the wire going to these outer rings.

Step 3: Power

  • You can plug the jack into the solar battery now.
  • Push the button on the solar battery and wait a few seconds
  • The light should start flashing red.
  • You should now have 10 volts on the power wires.

Step 4: CQ CQ..

All that is left is to power up and CQ!