Finally made it out for my first POTA activation today at K-0832. Had my KX2 and what I thought was a fully charged 6Ah LiFePO4 battery, but after only making 6 contacts in 30 minutes the radio just shut off. Checked the battery and it was completely dead - barely got the 10 contacts I needed for the activation. Is this normal or did something go wrong?

Used 20m CW mostly at 10 watts. Any ideas what might have caused this quick drain?

Sounds like your battery wasn't fully charged to begin with, or it's getting old. My 30Ah LiFePO4 usually runs my rig for hours, and most hams report good performance with quality brands like Bioenno that output 13-13.5V in use. What brand battery are you using?

Check your connections - loose Anderson Powerpoles can cause voltage drops that make the radio shut down even when the battery has juice left. Also carry a multitool for antenna adjustments and connection checks in the field.

I use 3S Li-Ion packs with my KX2 - they start at 12.6V and I've seen them as low as 11.8V after a couple hours of operation. Your battery might have internal cell imbalance. Try a load test at home before your next activation.