Baofeng UV-82 - charge from battery?

[anarky321]

so here is my problem i really like the UV-82HP and ideally that is the HT i'd want to get BUT big problem, this is for backpacking and there are NO portable charging options for this, as an example the Cobras i have right now charge off of a battery pack through a usb cable..very convenient

SO...here is my question, can i adapt the AC charger base somehow to work with my battery pack? it outputs 5V 9V 12V 16V 19V 20V DC, i was thinking the 9V setting would work if i had the wiring done correctly?

another option im looking at is getting the BF-F9 with the extended battery which has some kind of barrel plug hole on the side of the extended battery which may or may not work with 9V from the battery pack considering that the stock charger outputs 10V

anyone with experience on this?

 

[khaytsus]

Are you talking days of hiking? Baofeng radios generally for like 99% RX, 1% TX, will run for 15+ hours. My UV-3R+ will run about 20 hours.

If the drop-in charger has a barrel connector, just look to see what voltage it uses, but two warnings here... Make sure of the polarity (I've heard of random Chinese things being barrel-positive) and realize that the charging will be pretty inefficient.

 

[anarky321]

the drop in charger uses 10VDC from the AC adapter i believe, my battery only outputs 9V or 12V in that range, i believe that unless the radio has a dc-dc board in it then anything outside 10V would be bad but maybe 9V would work considering that the battery is like 7.7V or somewhere around that....even if it would be slower, i wish i could try it without buying the radio

 

[anarky321]

and this is just in general i like to have recharge availability for all my electronics, from laptop to flashlights, i won't buy a radio that i can't somehow adapt to being able to charge off of a battery pack unfortunately

 

[jk77]

Why not just buy a second battery for the UV-82 and charge it up and take it along? They are cheap enough.

 

[WyoDuner]

You can plug 12 VDC into the UV-82HP charging base - again make sure you keep polarity correct (Negative is almost always the outside connection on coaxial connectors). I Have done this on my regular UV-82 and no problems. I bet 9 VDC would work too but never tried.

There's probably a linear voltage regulator in there feeding the LiPo charging circuit.

 

[MrGClips]

You can get "AA/AAA" Battery Pack adapters for the Baofengs. They are not perfectly made quality-wise, but work. (too tight a fit and hard to remove) But that's one way to solve the power problem.

You can easily re-charge AA/AAAs with any small portable power station (power brick) hooked up to a AA/AAA portable charger (with micro USB connection) and then have unlimited power with you.

There is also a battery-eliminator solution for the Baofeng operated from the cigarette lighter, as well as car charger for the extended battery.

Pick your choice!

LINKS:

#1: BL-8 AAA Battery adapter for BaoFeng UV-82
http://www.amazon.com/BL-8-AAA-Battery-BaoFeng-including/dp/B00NKVXX0K

#2: BaoFeng BL-5 AA Battery Pack for BF-F8HP and UV-5R Radios (BF-F9 V2+ also)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LAPTWE4

#3: BaoFeng BL-5 12V Battery Eliminator for BF-F8HP and UV-5R Radios
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KZ6VGUW

#4: Large capacity battery car charger.
http://www.amazon.com/LingsFire®-Car-Charger-UV-5R-Capacity/dp/B00KV96M5W

One of these, or something similar should work I guess.

 

[anarky321]

You can plug 12 VDC into the UV-82HP charging base - again make sure you keep polarity correct (Negative is almost always the outside connection on coaxial connectors). I Have done this on my regular UV-82 and no problems. I bet 9 VDC would work too but never tried.

There's probably a linear voltage regulator in there feeding the LiPo charging circuit.

this is probably going to be my best bet...the battery pack i use has an output of 12V@4A with a barrel connector 5.5x2.1mm ....do you know what kind of barrel connector the base on the 82HP uses? im sure i could get an adapter to change it to 5.5x2.5mm or something similar if its different

 

[jhosford]

Hello everyone,

I use these radios far from AC power fairly often and the lack of solar charging accessories has had me thinking. Yes, you can get 12V solar panels and use the battery eliminator. But, those tend to be rigid heavy things meant to keep your car battery charged, and I need these to be portable. I already own a couple of solar chargers that provide USB only for charging phones and such and they pack away fairly small. I didn't want to buy something else just for these radios.

The option exists to use a boost/buck circuit to raise the 5V (nominal USB output) to the 10V the wall charger needs. I was ready to try that. Enter the USB charger for the UV-5R.

Yes, you can get a USB charger for the UV-82's cousin, which uses a very similar battery, except the size. Same battery voltage, so I assumed the same charge voltage. I found the USB UV-5R charger on Amazon Amazon.com : Aweek® Travel USB Adapter Charger + Car Cigarette Lighter/ USB Car Splitter AdapterFit for BAOFENG UV-5R Two Way Radio Walkie-Talkies : GPS & Navigation for $13. I ordered one and a spare UV-82 charger so I wasn't destroying one I needed!

Checking both, the unloaded charge voltage was within 0.2V of the same. Close enough. I opened both up, marked the positive/negative leads (they are reversed from each other!) and unsoldered the boards from both. The USB board fits fine in the UV-82 base with a little bending of the LED leads to make it fit. Soldered the leads back to the charge connectors. The strain relief even mostly fits with no cutting of the case needed.

Plug in into a USB/AC adapter and check voltage and polarity. It's all good. Slide the radio in. Bingo. Red charge light! It works.

I haven't timed the charge cycle, but it wouldn't mean anything to me anyway since I have no idea how long the AC charger takes to begin with! In my case, as long as it will charge in a few hours, I'm happy.

Thought I'd share my experiment since I see this subject all the time in the ham forums. Until someone recognizes the demand and starts to make a USB charger, this is an easy way to get it, at a very reasonable price.

Jon

 

[paulg22]

Hello everyone,

I use these radios far from AC power fairly often and the lack of solar charging accessories has had me thinking <snip>

Thought I'd share my experiment since I see this subject all the time in the ham forums. Until someone recognizes the demand and starts to make a USB charger, this is an easy way to get it, at a very reasonable price.

Jon

I just signed up to this forum to say thanks for this! I've just got a couple from the UK Amazon site and swapped over the internals to the UV-82 base unit. Didn't even need to do any soldering, as the connectors were the same shape and just screwed into the base and everything just fit in nicely.

Up until now I'd been using a step up voltage convertor, which does the job but not quite as elegantly, and a bit slow to charge.

 

[jhosford]

Thanks Paul,

I was going to try the voltage booster but it was just to fiddly. I'm pretty happy with the mod.

Now I'm thinking about 3D printing a complete holder that will work even in a pouch while hiking since I often hang my solar panel from my pack and charge while moving. The current base isn't very good for that!

 

[anarky321]

Hello everyone,

I use these radios far from AC power fairly often and the lack of solar charging accessories has had me thinking. Yes, you can get 12V solar panels and use the battery eliminator. But, those tend to be rigid heavy things meant to keep your car battery charged, and I need these to be portable. I already own a couple of solar chargers that provide USB only for charging phones and such and they pack away fairly small. I didn't want to buy something else just for these radios.

The option exists to use a boost/buck circuit to raise the 5V (nominal USB output) to the 10V the wall charger needs. I was ready to try that. Enter the USB charger for the UV-5R.

Yes, you can get a USB charger for the UV-82's cousin, which uses a very similar battery, except the size. Same battery voltage, so I assumed the same charge voltage. I found the USB UV-5R charger on Amazon Amazon.com : Aweek® Travel USB Adapter Charger + Car Cigarette Lighter/ USB Car Splitter AdapterFit for BAOFENG UV-5R Two Way Radio Walkie-Talkies : GPS & Navigation for $13. I ordered one and a spare UV-82 charger so I wasn't destroying one I needed!

Checking both, the unloaded charge voltage was within 0.2V of the same. Close enough. I opened both up, marked the positive/negative leads (they are reversed from each other!) and unsoldered the boards from both. The USB board fits fine in the UV-82 base with a little bending of the LED leads to make it fit. Soldered the leads back to the charge connectors. The strain relief even mostly fits with no cutting of the case needed.

Plug in into a USB/AC adapter and check voltage and polarity. It's all good. Slide the radio in. Bingo. Red charge light! It works.

I haven't timed the charge cycle, but it wouldn't mean anything to me anyway since I have no idea how long the AC charger takes to begin with! In my case, as long as it will charge in a few hours, I'm happy.

Thought I'd share my experiment since I see this subject all the time in the ham forums. Until someone recognizes the demand and starts to make a USB charger, this is an easy way to get it, at a very reasonable price.

Jon

great find, thanks!

 

[paulg22]

Thanks Paul,

I was going to try the voltage booster but it was just to fiddly. I'm pretty happy with the mod.

Now I'm thinking about 3D printing a complete holder that will work even in a pouch while hiking since I often hang my solar panel from my pack and charge while moving. The current base isn't very good for that!

Yes it's certainly a bit fiddly - and with the fine wires there was a tendency for them to break. If it was encased in a box with proper cable routing and a knob attached to the voltage adjust it might be more practical, but I couldn't find anything to suit. It's a useful thing to have in the bottom of a drawer though, as it will convert 5v usb right up to 35v.

Something with a low profile that clipped on to to base could be a really neat solution - in the UK it's not that often that we get strong enough sun to charge devices, so I usually connect the solar panel to a battery pack that's capable of trickle charging and then charge devices from the battery.

My current project is trying to somehow merge the walkie talkie output with my phone/ipod - we tend to use walkie talkies when skiing in Europe, where cellphone roaming charges are high. I want to be able to listen to music and monitor the radio at the same time - there are mini mixers designed for the broadcast industry but they're a bit too expensive!

 

[anarky321]

what about something like this?

New Radio USB Charger Cable for BAOFENG BF UV5R UV5RA UV5RE TYT TH F8 Retevis As | eBay

is the barrel plug on the UV-5R different size than the UV-82 base station?

 

[paulg22]

what about something like this?

New Radio USB Charger Cable for BAOFENG BF UV5R UV5RA UV5RE TYT TH F8 Retevis As | eBay

is the barrel plug on the UV-5R different size than the UV-82 base station?

Looks like it's 12v output, so 2v more than the 10v that the UV-82 needs - and it needs to be within about half a volt or so of 10v for it to work (according to the stepup convertor that I tested it with anyway).

I did jhosford's mod, which means I don't have a socket in the base unit any more, but it's a fairly standard size - the chargers for my mountain bike lights fit them (although they wouldn't charge the unit with 8.4v

 

[anarky321]

why would the 5R have a different charging voltage than the UV-82 when they use pretty much identically designed lithium batteries? seller emailed me back and said it will work for the UV-82, i will probably get one and test

what does the UV-5R ac adapter list as the output voltage?

according to google both are "Output DC 10V 500mA" so either the cable is mislabeled or it really is outputting 12v when the radios need 10v, ill double check with the seller

 

[anarky321]

this is a quote from an amazon user:

"On a regular charger for this unit, the 'wall wart' part will take the 120 VAC and convert it into 13.8 VDC, which inside the base then gets kicked down to 8.6333 VDC while limiting the output amperage to 400-450 mA"

my UV-82HP is still in the mail and i don't own a multimeter anyway but if that is the case then that cable would work just fine if the barrel fits because the voltage gets stepped down again in the base...does anyone have any input on this?

is anyone able to measure voltage at the barrel plug?

 

[KD8DVR]

I have used the wall warts between uv82s, uvb5 and uv5r radios interchangeably for years. I usually just keep one wart plugged in and rotate bases as needed. All the warts look the same and have identical specs.

Sent from my LG-D631 using Tapatalk

 

[anarky321]

well the seller never got back to me about the cable but if it is outputting 12v its obviously a no-go

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-DC-char...199544?hash=item33a9dd86b8:g:4bgAAOSwVL1WATQH

^ THIS cable however IS labeled as 10v

the reason im looking at this over the Aweek USB base swap option is because using the cable lets me keep my charging base original and AC compatible

 

[paulg22]

well the seller never got back to me about the cable but if it is outputting 12v its obviously a no-go

USB DC Charger Boost Converter Cable for BAOFENG UV 5R Walkie Talkie E DC58 | eBay

^ THIS cable however IS labeled as 10v

the reason im looking at this over the Aweek USB base swap option is because using the cable lets me keep my charging base original and AC compatible

Makes sense and cheaper too. I guess some of these adaptors are fast to market from unknown Chinese factories so might pay to make sure they're what they appear to be.