Batteries, chargers, and connectors

[robriguez]

Couple questions....

I'm fairly knowledgable about electronics, batteries and most charging devices but I just wanted to see what everyone elses opinions were before I did anything here.

I'm tired of running Alkaline AAs in my radios and receiver boxes. I want to move to NiMh cells.

1st question - I've only seen up to 1400MaH 6V 5cell hump packs. Do they make anything with a higher rating like 2400 or 3000MaH??
2nd question - I have
THIS charger that I love to use for my electric sub-c packs. Would I be able to use this charger for the hump pack? I understand I would prolly have to make a connector...thats not a problem.
3rd question - What about batteries for my radio? Do they make battery packs for radios? or would I have to buy individual AA size NiMh batts and use the supplied battery case?
4th question - can I use the charger from Q2 to charge my radio batts? My radio has a build in charger plug, (i have an JR XS3) so if I make an adapter would that work?
5th and final question - most NiMh batts are only 1.2V. My radio is currently running on 8 Alkaline batts (12V) is there any detriment in performance if I run 8 1.2V NiMh cells (9.6V) in my radio?

Sorry for all the Q's, just figured I'd get everything answered at once.

 

[robriguez]

Anyone??

 

[Candyman]

I'll try to do what I can here...

First off, I use a SuperBrain 959 charger to do my batts, but it looks about the same as the Pirhana. You can do NIMh and NiCd so that's not a worry. As long as it has adjustable charge current, you should be able to do your Tx and Rx packs no problem. If you're charging NIMh, a charge rate equal to the mAh rating of the battery is advised. So if you're using 1400 mAh NIMh, charge at about 1.5 A. If you're using NiCd, use about 1.5 times the mAh rating. The only exception is if you're charging single cells. Always use .5A for single cells.
As far as your radio, I doubt they make a premade pack for it. I would use single AA NIMh for that. It's easy to just stick them in. Then make a charging adapter to adapt the charger to plug into the Tx. Just make sure you get the polarity right... Typically, performance doesn't drop off too noticeably with 9.6 volts. Range may fall a little. But otherwise they have worked fine for me.

OK. That's all I can give you for now. Hope it helps...

 

[El Pirata]

1st Q:
The best AA NiMH batteries I have seen have been these 2200MAH NiMH


3rd Q: These are currently the Batteries I use in both my transmitter and receiver. I run 4 of them in my receiver and 8 of them in my transmitter. I honestly can't notice a difference between them and alkaline batteries, aside from the obvious that they are more expensive on the pocket book initially but not having to buy more batteries is definately a plus in my book. I have lost a few and will probably buy another charger combo again just in case.

Just found these 2300s and I just ordered 24 of them too...