Volume 6
One Pivotal Incident Inspired Longer
Lasting Batteries for Land Mobile Radios
By Curt Quinter, President and Chief Engineer, Impact Power
Technologies
‘The officer was killed in the line of duty, but this kind of tragic
loss should never happen.’
A San Antonio, Texas police officer was out on patrol when he suddenly found himself caught in a
shootout and away from his vehicle.
He tried to call for backup only to discover that his
2-way radio battery had died and his spares were
at the station.
The officer was killed in the line of duty, but this kind
of tragic loss should never happen.
July-Aug 2016 Edition
I was an energy and electronics engineer for many
years at other manufacturers before I formed a new
land mobile battery company called Impact Power
Technologies with my business partner Ken Murphy.
After hearing about the San Antonio incident, I
vowed to develop a longer lasting replacement for
the OEM batteries so that scenario would not be
repeated.
When I first developed the original Lithium Polymer
battery for land mobile radios, it was good enough
to earn the Radio Club of America’s prestigious
Fred Link Award for Technological Advancement.
But, it wasn’t good enough for me.
My engineers and I spent over a year conducting
extensive research to improve battery performance
and extend longevity. We studied every lithium cell
available and chose the finest quality with the highest purity so it would deliver about triple the number
of recharges, without affecting memory.
We designed a better battery management system in order to optimize this chemistry and balance
the power that flows in and out, as well as boosted
the milliamps to increase capacity and run-time.
Ultimately, our tests resulted in a Lithium Polymer
2-way radio battery that lasted 20 hours on a single
charge.
When my team first told me these results, I didn’t
believe them and ordered re-testing again and
again—The results were always the same. Finally,
I was satisfied enough to introduce this new battery
technology to the public safety field.
The line was dubbed LifeSaver series in honor of
how our story began. Since then, we continue to
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