436hp charging message question

[Essexscan]

Will the 436hp display Ask to charge everytime you plug in the usb cable like the HP-1 does when you plug in the dc jack or will it only ask to charge if the batteries are low?

The manual is a little fuzzy there

 

[guyiv]

I believe it asks every time. I just checked mine (it is over 4v) and it asked.


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[Essexscan]

does it only ask when the radio is off or like the HP-1 when its on too?

 

[guyiv]

It asks for charging when the radio is off, but it asks for "Serial" or "Mass Storage" when the radio is on. If you select Serial it will only power the scanner but not charge it. I have not tried to charge it while on with a iPad charger to see if the stronger charger will power and charge it.


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[Essexscan]

Thanks guyiv, I couldn't remember what my 396T did when you tried to charge it and what the HP-1 does was confusing me, I thought I had a defective unit that wouldn't charge.

I charge externally anyway but wanted to use a backup USB battery pack with the 436HP

 

[guyiv]

My buddy has a USB battery pack that we were using when we first got our 436s, while waiting for the batteries to charge, and it worked great.


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[Essexscan]

I think they/we need to help clarify the battery/charging section of the manual with UPMAN/Uniden . It will stop a lot of confusion before it starts

 

[RF23]

I think they/we need to help clarify the battery/charging section of the manual with UPMAN/Uniden . It will stop a lot of confusion before it starts

I agree!

The way I read the manual the 436 will only charge the batteries that operate the scanner when it is OFF.

Some people have complained that they want to listen to their scanners while it is being charged, however, many USB ports are too weak to charge the batteries and operate the scanner at the same time. This may be why the 436 must be off to charge the batteries that operate the scanner, however, the workaround is to use a good external charger and have two sets of batteries (which is a good idea anyway). Remember without good batteries in the 436 you cannot use any function that uses the SD card.

However, when does the battery that keeps the time/date charge? It appears from some people's report that have lost the time/date even though they had good batteries in the 436. This would suggest that the batteries that run the 436 do NOT charge the battery that keeps the time/date.

I think the manual and UPMan just says to have the 436 plugged into a USB port, no mention is made if it needs to be on or off that I can find. However, the 536 apparently must be ON to charge the battery that holds the time/date. I think.

Is about what you guys think too?

 

[Essexscan]

N0UDG, I have always used external charging on my scanners and keep atleast 3 sets of batteries on rotation for each. I only charge in the scanner in an emergency. for storm or power outage duty I just add extra sets of eneloops to my scanners as backup plus Lithium AAs. I ran my radios for almost a week during Sandy without needing to charge any batteries for them. For the 436HP I;m going to get a USB power pack of some type (Goal Zero or Similar)

As for the memory battery in the 436, I put fresh charged batteries in it when it came then listened to it all day then swapped batteries. no problems with the time/ date up to now

 

[NUGEN]

The scanner doesn't use the battery power when the scanner is on. So if you leave it off for the night and charge it you should be fine. When your using the scanner during the day like in a car, just keep it plugged up.

 

[Essexscan]

The USB is enough to run the scanner alone as I ran it this morning without any batteries on USB by itself with no problems.

Hopefully we can add some power/battery info to the next manual update also

 

[RF23]

N0UDG, I have always used external charging on my scanners and keep atleast 3 sets of batteries on rotation for each. I only charge in the scanner in an emergency. for storm or power outage duty I just add extra sets of eneloops to my scanners as backup plus Lithium AAs. I ran my radios for almost a week during Sandy without needing to charge any batteries for them. For the 436HP I;m going to get a USB power pack of some type (Goal Zero or Similar)

As for the memory battery in the 436, I put fresh charged batteries in it when it came then listened to it all day then swapped batteries. no problems with the time/ date up to now

Sounds like you are using very good backup power methods! I also use an external battery charger and have multiple spare battery packs.

How does the total voltage work out using Lithium batteries? I have read a few posts here on RR that claim if you use Lithium batteries the voltage will be too high.

Since the charging circuit needed for proper charging of Lithium batteries is very different from what the x36HP radios have no doubt you always use a proper external chargers for them, so no problems there.

 

[Essexscan]

I meant Primary Lithiums like Energizer Lithium AA NOT rechargeable Li-Ion 3.7 volt batteries. I always have Primary 1.5volt Lithium AAs around for emergency and use them in lights that are stored with batteries in them they can be stored 7-10 years

 

[Essexscan]

I think I have a simple solution for my USB power backup supply for the 436HP and HP-1.
I have a couple spare 12V 33AH SLA batteries and will be using a clamp on Lighter outlet with an EGear USB lighter adapter for the 436HP if I have a Long term outage and for a long car trip I have in the spring plus spare eneloops (lots) For the HP-1 I think I might pick up a Goal Zero Sherpa 50 with inverter and use it with my eneloop setup I have for it

All I have to do in the meantime is setup a Go-Bag for the whole setup