so i was doing K-1234 today (nice little state park about an hour from home) and my battery just gave up after like 90 minutes. was using my usual 7ah sla but apparently didnt charge it fully last time. only got 23 contacts before it started cutting out on transmit

anybody else had this happen? was so frustrating cause the band was really picking up when it died. ended up packing everything and driving home early

yeah been there... i always bring a backup battery now even for short activations. learned that lesson the hard way on a sota peak where i hiked 3 miles just to have my lifepo4 crap out after 45 minutes. now i carry two smaller batteries instead of one big one

This is why I invested in a good battery monitor. Got one of those little LCD displays that shows voltage and current draw so I can see exactly whats happening. Also helps to know your radio's actual power consumption - some of the published specs are way off from real world use especially on SSB