whacker
Member
I've got an old Uniden BC 100XL that was my first handheld scanner, that I still use for dedicated VHF & UHF freqs when there's an event that uses just that nearby. It works like a champ, and is built like a brick! Slightly more sensitive in the UHF band than my BCD396T, but very hissy audio.
Any way, like most radios of its time, as far as rechargeable batteries, it came with 1000 mAH ni-cads (x6), which were replaced once or twice. More recently I replaced them with 2000 mAH NiMH batteries, as ni-cads are harder to find now and a don't perform as well.
But I've never found a comfortable recharge/usage cycle with them. The original batteries would give a good 6-8 hours run time (IIRC) after a 14-16 hr. charge in the radio. This is not the kind of radio you want to pop the batteries out of to put into an external charger, as you have to unscrew the bottom plate to remove them, and the memory is volatile, so you generally avoid that.
The current NiMH batts in the unit only seem to run 3 hours or so. Correct me here, but, if a set of 1000 mAH cells needs ~14 hrs. to charge, then wouldn't a set of 2000 mAH cells need roughly double that with the same charge current? I just want to figure this with some accuracy, and be able to get a full charge out of them. Otherwise I might try to find some ni-cads again, which I'd rather not do. I've never seen NiMH cells with a lower rating than 2000, but what do I know.
Another issue: I've got an old BC 200 XLT that hasn't worked for a long time, that needs a repair and a battery pack. Does anyone still repair these? I know Uniden probably doesn't. I used to rebuild my own battery pack from Radio Shack AA NiCads with the bare leads on them, but I'm not doing that anymore. Any info on that would be appreciated
Any way, like most radios of its time, as far as rechargeable batteries, it came with 1000 mAH ni-cads (x6), which were replaced once or twice. More recently I replaced them with 2000 mAH NiMH batteries, as ni-cads are harder to find now and a don't perform as well.
But I've never found a comfortable recharge/usage cycle with them. The original batteries would give a good 6-8 hours run time (IIRC) after a 14-16 hr. charge in the radio. This is not the kind of radio you want to pop the batteries out of to put into an external charger, as you have to unscrew the bottom plate to remove them, and the memory is volatile, so you generally avoid that.
The current NiMH batts in the unit only seem to run 3 hours or so. Correct me here, but, if a set of 1000 mAH cells needs ~14 hrs. to charge, then wouldn't a set of 2000 mAH cells need roughly double that with the same charge current? I just want to figure this with some accuracy, and be able to get a full charge out of them. Otherwise I might try to find some ni-cads again, which I'd rather not do. I've never seen NiMH cells with a lower rating than 2000, but what do I know.
Another issue: I've got an old BC 200 XLT that hasn't worked for a long time, that needs a repair and a battery pack. Does anyone still repair these? I know Uniden probably doesn't. I used to rebuild my own battery pack from Radio Shack AA NiCads with the bare leads on them, but I'm not doing that anymore. Any info on that would be appreciated