[FreeBay] Re: HTX-202 charger

[qrp_1 at juno.com]

Just don't forget the battery packs of topic aren't 12 V., 7.2, if I 
recall correctly.  I believe the voltage output of the original charger 
wart was ~9 V. .  My rechargables puked long ago, so I using the dry 
cell case.
Doug, N0LKK [snip]

Sorry Doug, but they are 12 volt 100mA chargers.  And you can even charge
the batteris from a plain cable direct to the cigar plug in your car. 
The battery packs are 7.2 volt but they have a small regulator/charger
circuit built in to bring the 12 volts down to the proper voltage/current
level.  I just run a cable from the back of my 13.8 volt 20 amp Yaesu
power supply and plug it into my 202 packs to keep them charged up and
keep the little wallwart charger in a bag I use when I travel.  As for
the dry cell case, get some nickel metal hydride rechargeables that are
rated at 2300 mA to put in them and get a charger that will handle at
least 6 of them and you can keep one set on charge while the other set is
in the radio.

> Yes, you can charge any 12volt battery by connecting it to a 13.6vdc 
> supply, but how you connect it and how well you limit the current drawn

> may make a big difference in if you will ever be able to use tha
battery 
> again. [snip]

As I said above, the 202 battery packs have a built in charge controller
to prevent damage to the batteries.  Somewhere around here, I even have
the schematic for the built in charge controller !

I just got the wall wart charger out that came with my 202 and measured
the output voltage.  With no load, it measures 16.1 volts - enough to
cook a nicads without some sort of regulation, and thats why the battery
packs on the 202's have the built in charge controllers.  Plus, evidently
the manufacturer of the battery packs had plans for a drop in fast
charger - if you notice the 2 scews on the bottom of the battery packs,
they are connected direct to the batteries and completely bypass the
built in controller circuit.  The plug on the other hand goes direct to
the controller circuit and then to the batteries.

Rick McKee - KC8AON - Southern Ohio
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/qrp
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