I have had a major issue come into focus recently as… I got caught.
I am on the east coast of Australia, and we recently had a Tropical Cyclone (Alfred). This cyclone brought loads of rain and high winds, flooding me in and cutting power due to falling trees and poles.
Yes, the MacBook, iPad and iPhone have long-lasting batteries, but they eventually run out and aren’t always charged in the first instance. My big ‘phone size’ power brick only lasts so long. I have also recently obtained my amateur radio licence and without power I am off air. What to do?
In ham (radio) land, 12 volts and car batteries are ‘the go’. You clip your radio straight onto the 12 volt terminals, put up your antenna and away you go. However, the thought of dragging a box of acid around with me or storing it in the house didn’t appeal.
Batteries have come a long way in recent years. The old box batteries are now Lithium Phosphate, much lighter and smaller than the acid batteries. I watched a ham radio video on batteries and it sold me (see below).
I pulled the trigger and got a 50 Ah battery, charger, 12 volt USB-C charger, two auto accessory power sockets (for Apple and modem gear), and a 12 volt power block for the radios—all for USD265.
I got a small to mid-sized 50 Ah battery, which would last a week! The 50 Ah battery would last me a day or two of normal use of the Macphone, iPad, iPhone, 5G modem, and radios.
The photo is of the battery I purchased has an Apple Magic TrackPad in front of it for size comparison.
The main products and accessories I got are below.
Video on the batteries
Product links
- Watt Cycle battery USA
- Watt Cycle 12 volt 50Ah (USD120)
- Watt Cycle charger (USD100)
- Macbook 12 volt charger from UGreen (USD20)
- 12 volt terminals to accessory sockets (USD10)
- 12 volt distribution block (USD15)
13 March 2025