I am looking for something battery powered. Something just to have fun with when traveling or a low key back yard jam. Budget is around $500.
Any ideas?

Montunoman,
One option is a Yamaha PSR-EW410 which can take aC aadapter or D size batteries and also rechargeabel batteries too.
It is about 18lb plus . It is also a 76 key keyboard for the players out there who want a little more room.
758 (237 Panel Voices + 24 Drum/SFX kits + 40 Arpeggio + 457 XGlite voices)
Featured Voices 1 Live! Voice, 8 Sweet! Voices, 3 Cool! Voices, 3 Dynamic Voices
Also it has a USB connector for storage too.


Allan

Thanks Allan, I see Yamaha makes a similar 61 key version too, the psr e 463.

None of the battery-powered Yamahas allow you to play altered chords like C/F, etc. so I wouldn't consider those. The Casio CT-X3000 has an amazing feature set and sound quality for $299 (i think) and you can sometimes find it for less on eBay. Unfortunately the keybed is spongy and not very durable.

You could also get a used Roland BK-5 and a 12V "power bank" of the type used to recharge a laptop computer:
https://www.amazon.com/XTPower-MP-10000-...02289&psc=1

No battery-powered portable KB is going to be very loud, so you also have to budget for some kind of battery-powered amp. I mess around with the Suzuki Omnichord. For a campfire circle I hooked it up to a JBL Charge 3 portable speaker (the big one that's shaped like a football.) It was loud enough, and the external speaker really helped with the lows:
https://www.amazon.com/JBL-Charge-Waterp...68-d89d95c82244

I love your idea and many times I've thought about doing the same. Because some of my friends sing, I want to build a "left handed keytar" that plays LH accomp, with some pads on the neck to trigger drum fills, chord-matched arps, etc. The BK-7m doesn't have multipads but I might be able to make the arps as intros or fills.

Yeah, I thought you might like the 73 keys, but also there is other keyboards like casio that can run on batteries but I prefer the Yamaha. You could also get the 61 key Roland VR-09 that can run on batteries but the dollars need to stretch a little more.

Let us know what you get please.

Allan

budget of $500! All kinds of choices, from $59 to $450. Look at the Korg EK50 at $449 from Sweetwater. This is one you could possibly not only use as a potable fun unit but add to your setup for some additional sounds and flexibility.

vArranger + Korg MicroKey

why not just buy a jackery 300 or 500 powerstation and play your normal keyboard and amp into it and play anything anywhere for from $300 to $500 dallars for a pure sine wave setup. I can get 10 hours with my korg pa1000 plus a bose l1 compact amd have power left over.

MEL

Thank you for the great tip.
I was looking for a powerstation
This one has 5 stars on Amazon. Exactly what I was looking for.
I might get the 1000 as a back up for power outages ...
Eric

I was playing with the idea as well and did some research.
Even though I am a Yammi fan I did not like the lower models at all. Sound wise and styles.
Sounded like toys to me. Casio ish.
However, I really liked the Korg EK50.
Much more professional sound and styles in a very affordable package.
But I also really like MEL's idea about a very affordable and small powerstation. Problem solved ...
Good luck either way.
Eric