WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.640 --> 00:00:15.439 The Ham Radio two point zero audio podcast RIP. Thank you for downloading and 2 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:19.239 listening to this podcast. So basically what I do is I take all the 3 00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:24.879 audio clips out of my videos and upload them to spreaker and then from there 4 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:31.280 they're spread out to iTunes and SoundCloud and now Amazon Audible as well. But 5 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:35.079 I want to welcome you and thank you for joining the audio section of this 6 00:00:35.560 --> 00:00:40.159 series on Ham Radio. I hope you enjoy it, and I would appreciate 7 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:45.880 you leaving us a comment or a review on whatever podcast service you're listening from. 8 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:52.679 Thank you in seventy three. I hope you enjoy it. This is 9 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:59.119 the Ego Flow River took Pro. It is a newly designed model of the 10 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:00.960 River two Pro. Had a River two Pro in the past, and this 11 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.560 one is releasing in early April of twenty twenty three. Ecoflow said this to 12 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:07.200 me and they're like, hey, we're going to send you one of these 13 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:08.480 early. So I've been using it for a week or two something like that, 14 00:01:08.519 --> 00:01:11.799 and they said we're rereleasing it due to technical issues that have all been 15 00:01:11.799 --> 00:01:18.200 resolved from the previous model of River two Pro. I myself have had this 16 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:23.239 river, this original Ecoflow River which you guys have seen this in a few 17 00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:26.959 of my videos in the past. I've had this for probably a year. 18 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:30.040 They had a huge Amazon sale about a year ago, and I picked this 19 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:34.239 up for less than one hundred dollars. So this one's about two hundred and 20 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:37.640 twenty some two hundred and forty something WAD hours. I forget what exactly what 21 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:41.000 it was. The original River the River two is seven hundred and sixty eight 22 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.280 WATD hours, so it's about three times the capacity. But you can tell 23 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:47.200 by looking at it it's not three times the size, like, it's not 24 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:52.760 even three times the depth really, So here's the how deep this one is? 25 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.680 The River two pros definitely taller than the original River, but you would 26 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:02.239 expect some variants of size comparison because guess what, it's three times the capacity. 27 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:06.640 So you can see the screen right there. It's the same screen that's 28 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:08.560 on all these same screen that's on the original River. I've got two or 29 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:12.639 three other models that have that same kind of screen on. It tells you 30 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.240 everything you need to know, how many hours you have left, what's your 31 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:19.439 capacity is, what the input and output in wattage in watts is. It's 32 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:23.639 got three USB A ports and a USBC one hundred watt port right there. 33 00:02:23.120 --> 00:02:27.120 So that's pretty cool that that's a PD one hundred on there. I think 34 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:30.919 that that's something that can be taken advantage of for larger tablets than laptops. 35 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:36.639 Even cigarette lighter adapter there with two barrel type connectors. You can turn the 36 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:39.840 DC on by just short pressing that button. These are on automatically just when 37 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:45.039 you turn the power on, and then the AC you short press that and 38 00:02:45.080 --> 00:02:50.919 you've got four AC outlets instead of only two AC outlets on the smaller version. 39 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:53.680 Now you can see right there it dropped ninety five or fifty six hours 40 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:57.400 right there. Is what that says when I turn the A C on, 41 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:00.840 So the AC the inverter is going to take more juice to run that stuff 42 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:04.000 then the DC stuff is. But that's kind of normal. It's a test 43 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.319 I like to do on these, is to plug in something and have my 44 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:12.199 IC seven h five. You guys will see a video on this upcoming with 45 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.599 the new enclosure that you see right here, So kind of a teaser right 46 00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:22.639 now. So I've got the twenty ft eight frequency just monitoring right now, 47 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:24.680 and you can see what the scope and the waterfall look like. So I 48 00:03:24.719 --> 00:03:29.000 want to turn this on. I'm gonna turn that back on and I'm going 49 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.000 to turn this on. So now both of them are on, but there's 50 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:36.919 nothing plugged in. Obviously, don't really see a huge difference. Maybe a 51 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:42.919 slight variation around the fourteen dot O seven four megahertz range there. I just 52 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.319 went away, probably just strong ft eight signals more than anything. So let 53 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:53.479 me turn it off real quick and see if now not really any variations there. 54 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:58.199 But I'm going to plug something in and see what kind of RFI it 55 00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:01.199 produces. Now, this one right here did not. I did a couple 56 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:04.439 of RFI tests with it. I had zero issues, except for when I 57 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:08.240 plugged it into my RV. We used that in the Grand Canyon. I 58 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:13.439 plugged in my trailer to it one time because our RV spot didn't have electricity 59 00:04:13.479 --> 00:04:15.800 hookups, so I would charge it with that thing until the battery died. 60 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.639 And I did it one time and Mike said his bandscope went nuts on his 61 00:04:18.759 --> 00:04:21.199 IC seventy three hundred. But I don't think it was the power station. 62 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:26.199 I think it was the RV. Something in the RV was causing electrical interference 63 00:04:26.199 --> 00:04:30.199 in RFI because I have used that at the Hunting Lease, not plugged into 64 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:34.000 the trailer, just charging my well, charging various things cameras, phones, 65 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:39.319 tablets, computer whatever, And I've had zero issue with RFI at the Hunting 66 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:42.680 Lease. So that thing, and all the tests I've done with that thing, 67 00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:45.680 it does not produce any RFI. So I'd be curious to see what 68 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:47.519 this River two does. So we're going to plug a couple of things into 69 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:51.560 it right now. Right I was gonna try to get cute and plug in 70 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:57.600 the original river and let it charge from the river too, but after having 71 00:04:57.639 --> 00:04:59.800 not used that thing for more than a month, it's still a hundred percent 72 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.279 pacity. So that's a testament howel well the battery works all right. So 73 00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:08.480 I've got my phone plugged into the USB right here, USB ads a C 74 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.720 cable and the phone is charging right now. And then I've got my r 75 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.319 finder plugged in to the AC outlet here, so this is on and well 76 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.959 this is on, but that doesn't need to be on, but this stays 77 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:26.199 on regardless. So I've got something charging via USB A and via AC and 78 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:31.560 you can see it does indeed have a little bit of spikes here and there 79 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:34.160 all right, So I'm gonna watch the screen of the radio and turn off. 80 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:39.040 I'm gonna turn this AC port off right here. I'm gonna point the 81 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:43.439 camera at the screen of the radio and you'll see that die on the band 82 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:48.199 scope. Now I cannot hear or tell any difference on the actual FT eight 83 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:53.000 signal coming in. It's coming in both above and below the signal right there 84 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:56.480 and right there. That's where they were before. I'm gonna turn it back 85 00:05:56.519 --> 00:06:02.079 on now. So now that the AC inverter is charging my rfinder device again, 86 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:06.879 it's producing some RFI right there and right there. Again, I can't 87 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:13.199 really hear. I can't hear it interfering with the actual FT eight signal. 88 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:18.199 It's just above and below that frequency there. So it does produce a little 89 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:24.120 bit of RFI when working with the AC port. But I've got them sitting 90 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:28.000 right next to each other as well. Pardon, pardon the dog right there. 91 00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:30.399 That's at a foster dog we bought named Liza. She lost her front 92 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:34.040 leg in a car accident, so she's a tripod, really nice dog. 93 00:06:34.240 --> 00:06:36.879 So I've got I've got them sitting right next to each other. If I 94 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:41.519 moved to the radio over there in the yard somewhere, perhaps I would get 95 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:44.199 rid of that RFI, or if I took that in the house or something, 96 00:06:44.279 --> 00:06:46.959 or just moved it to a place, you know, proximity wise, 97 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:48.800 I wanted to get it as close as I could so that we could see 98 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:53.279 if it was splattering on the band. So it is producing RFI, but 99 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:56.839 I wouldn't really call it that bad. Okay. Now, now I did 100 00:06:56.879 --> 00:07:00.199 a test like this on my Rhenergy Phoenix, and somebody came by in the 101 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:01.800 comments said, well, yeah, but try try charging the power station. 102 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:05.879 Try plugging the power station into a regular outlet and seeing what that does. 103 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:09.519 And that does produce RFI. But you know what, I don't think I 104 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:12.079 care about that, because that's not the point. The point of this is 105 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:15.000 to use it without having it plugged into shore power. The point is to 106 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:17.360 use this out in the field where you don't have shore power available. And 107 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:19.879 this is seven hundred and sixty eight wide hours, so it's going to last 108 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:24.439 a lot longer than a smaller version like that. So I don't really think 109 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:28.839 I care if this produces RFI when it's plugged into a regular wall socket. 110 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:31.120 What I do care about is it produces RFI when it's in standalone mode, 111 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:33.639 which is what it's doing right now. Now, would that keep me from 112 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:38.480 operating with it? No, not really. I would simply separate the two. 113 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:42.439 Maybe change the configuration of my antenna a little bit. That might help. 114 00:07:42.759 --> 00:07:45.920 Do a vertical antenna, do a horizontal antenna, something like that, 115 00:07:46.519 --> 00:07:49.639 change the direction of the antenna, that might do it. Anyway, it's 116 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:55.480 still not too bad for what it is. And a lot of times AC 117 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:59.079 inverters are going to produce RFI, So you just basically turn that off and 118 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:01.279 you can still have the DC portion of it. So I wanna walk around 119 00:08:01.279 --> 00:08:03.680 it right here again, like I said in the beginning, all of the 120 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:05.839 ports are on one side, and I really like that because that means you 121 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:09.800 can set this thing on a table or in the corner of your tent if 122 00:08:09.800 --> 00:08:11.600 you're camping, or in the corner of your RV and get it out of 123 00:08:11.639 --> 00:08:15.720 the way and you don't have to have wires coming in all sides of it. 124 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:20.160 This original river right here has all the all these ports on the front, 125 00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:22.160 and it has the AC inverter on the side over here, and then 126 00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:26.120 it has the charging ports where where you plug in the solar panel or the 127 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:30.319 shore power over here on this side. So it's got three sides that you 128 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.480 could have wires coming out on all three sides. I don't personally like that. 129 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:35.679 It's a personal preference, but it is what it is. This one 130 00:08:35.759 --> 00:08:39.879 right here has everything on the front except for the charging ports which are in 131 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:46.480 the back. It came with a very robust, very thick AC power cable 132 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:50.919 standard plug like you'd see in a computer. No problem, there goes in 133 00:08:50.039 --> 00:08:54.120 right there. It does have a built in solar charge controller, so I 134 00:08:54.159 --> 00:08:58.080 can just plug it directly into a solar panel. But it did not come 135 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:00.919 with a cable to go a solar panel. It came with a cable that 136 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:03.559 went from this style plug. There's a name for that plug. I just 137 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:05.120 forget what it is right now, but there's different sizes of it. But 138 00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:09.360 it came with a cable that went from that to the cigarette lighter adapter. 139 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:11.480 And you could get one that goes from that to like power poles or something 140 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:15.759 for a solar panel, or you could get it to MC four or something 141 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:18.440 like that. Overall, I think this is a win. Again, You're 142 00:09:18.679 --> 00:09:24.399 you're probably not going to find many of these power packs they're COMPLETELYFI quiet. 143 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:26.840 And for what this is, you know, that's a lot of power. 144 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.840 Seven hundred and sixty eight lot hours. There's a lot of power to take 145 00:09:28.879 --> 00:09:33.039 into the field, have camping and whatnot, so and a lot of you 146 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.399 if you're watching, if you found this video on YouTube and you're not a 147 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:39.080 Ham radio operator, you're just watching it for the power station, you may 148 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:41.840 not care about RFI. You're like, well, I don't care about radio. 149 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:43.519 I don't even do anything with radio. That's okay. I just like 150 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.440 to show this because that's what this channel is about, is about two way 151 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:50.960 radio, HF radio and HAM radio. So it is producing a little bit 152 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:54.279 of noise, but I still think that this is something I would take into 153 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:58.600 the field and use. I will probably have opportunities to do that next week 154 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:01.399 at the time of this recording, so you might see another video on this 155 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:03.399 upcoming. Let me know what you think of the comments below.