[ICOM] IC-24AT, 3SAT Batteries

[Michael P. Olbrisch]

I have recently done some studying on batteries.  A few years ago the doctor
told me to stop running.  So I took up hiking.  You can see some of my hikes
on localhikes.com.  Look in the El Paso area, southern NM, and SE AZ.  I
also became a volunteer in the state park - patrolling the 37 square miles
of mountain range.  Typically I hike 3 to 12 miles every outing.

As a result of this I took an interest in carrying my ICOM IC-W32A handheld
radio and a number of other items while hiking.  The batteries for the
handheld, CD Walkman, a flashlight, digital camera, a few rescue items-
etc...  D battery for the rescue strobe.  AA for the flashlight.  AAA for
the digital camera.  I was carrying pounds of spare batteries!

I soon decided to switch everything over to AA batteries.  I got two BP-170
battery packs for the W32A.  I traded cameras to get one that uses AA.  Same
with the walkman.  I have been extremely satisfied with the change.  The
Ni-MH AA batteries are super.  I get way more life from the handheld using
the MAHA 2200 mah Ni-MH AA battery pack over the original 650 mah battery.
The one down-side was that I now only have 1.5 watts out instead of the
original 5 watts.  But dumping the rubber duck and going with a 1/4 wave
fixed that.

I charge the batteries on two Radio Shack chargers, they are copies of the
MAHA 777.  I have them set up to handle the ICOM packs on the contacts.  For
the other items, I put the batteries in a holder and use the alligator
clip-leads to charge them.  Recently I picked up 3 each 9.6v 1450 mah Ni-MH
batteries for the IC-W32A.  I am very happy with the batteries.  The only
downside I see for Ni-MH is that they DO lose their charge more quickly when
not in use than the Ni-CD batteries.  Consequently, you might want to top
off the charge before starting out.  Fortunately, Ni-MH batteries can handle
this easily - they exhibit no memory like Ni-CD!

As to your charger, I have no answer.  I have the Radio Shack / MAHA 777
chargers, they are all I use.  Got them on E-Ham for about $25 each.

Information on Ni-MH batteries can be found here.
http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM

Hope this helps.

Mike.  KD9KC
El Paso, TX.

Where it is a great day for a hike, but maybe a better day to go shoot the
.50 cal.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:icom-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of flearl at msn.com
> Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 3:21 PM
> To: icom at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [ICOM] IC-24AT, 3SAT Batteries
>
>
> Hello list:
>             I'm in need of a couple of new batteries for my
> Icom handhelds, has anyone bought the nimh replacements? Do
> you like them and what do you charge them with?  I had pretty
> good luck with the original nicad batteries but they are
> several years old and have been through my BC-80 rapid
> charger too many times. I bought a couple of aftermarket
> replacements which were of less quality than the originals. I
> don't think the BC-80 will work with the nimh batteries
> although it should if the aftermarket packs have the correct
> dimples in them to control the charger. Icom says it won't
> work for nimh batteries. Another problem is that the internal
> battery pack in my 3SAT is tango uniform, the dealer wants 1
> 1/2 hours labor to replace it. I think I can do this myself,
> has anyone disassembled and replaced the internal battery on
> their 3SAT? Any hints?  Thank you for your input.
> 73
> Warren n0wf
> ----
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