BC246T Battery Life?

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jon_k

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Does anyone else get about 12 hours worth of battery life on this scanner? Is this average?

I've used a friends PRO 95 for days before the battery dies. The BC246T isn't so conservative.
 

CStarr59

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Yes I get about 12 hours from mine and I have energizer 2500's rechargable batteries. I also use the backlight more as I have it set to activate on squelch, so I might be able to go a little longer W/O the light. I just use a seperate bettery charger so I always have a fresh set of batteries ready. I tried radio shack batteries but they didn't seem to have long lasting power? So far I am having good luck with energizers. But I'm sure there are better ones out there.
 

CLTX11

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I get about that as well, then again it depends on a lot of things. I currently use the Duracell 2500's with a nice MAHA charger!!!

I had bad luck with the energizers but thats just me.

This is an awesome little scanner, owned them for years and have a few of them.
 

jon_k

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Really a bummer this radio sucks batteries like that. I love this scanner otherwise but the battery problem is a drain.

I wish they would have made the radio larger so they could fit more batteries in to make life longer. The Pro 95 takes 4 batteries which may be why it lasts so well.
 

CStarr59

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CLTX11 said:
I get about that as well, then again it depends on a lot of things. I currently use the Duracell 2500's with a nice MAHA charger!!!

I had bad luck with the energizers but thats just me.

This is an awesome little scanner, owned them for years and have a few of them.

CLTX11 where are you buying your duracell 2500's and what type of charger do you have.
Mine is a RS quick charger (2 hours) and I don't think that is the best way to charge these batteries.
 

wtpastor

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BC246T Battery life

Just got my scanner and first day of leaving it on all day. It just now beeped me that the batteries were low....let's see that makes 11 hrs. No backlight on at all today.
 

slicerwizard

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jon_k said:
Really a bummer this radio sucks batteries like that. I love this scanner otherwise but the battery problem is a drain.
So carry a couple of spare cells. How hard can that be?


I wish they would have made the radio larger so they could fit more batteries in to make life longer.
I suspect that most owners prefer the smaller size.

If you really want to run it off 4 AA cells, just get yourself a 4 AA holder with a plug that fits the scanner's power jack. Now your 246T will run twice as long.


The Pro 95 takes 4 batteries which may be why it lasts so well.
Ya think? :)

Older, slower, less capable processor, no digital. It's to be expected.
 

CLTX11

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jon_k

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CLTX11 said:

Did you buy the charger online? Geez, 70 bucks for a charger though. The LCD is nice for sure -- but a cluster of LED's would be fine too if the cost was even half that.:D
 

CLTX11

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jon_k said:
Did you buy the charger online? Geez, 70 bucks for a charger though. The LCD is nice for sure -- but a cluster of LED's would be fine too if the cost was even half that.:D


Yes I bought it from the link I posted. Search these forums for that charger and you will get plenty of hits to read about it.

I felt the same way about spending that much on a charger, I don't have a lot of money to spend on things like this. I do not regret it one bit though, I feel like I have already saved in batteries. I use the charger twice a day, charge at most right now 12 batteries a day. I have 2 handheld scanners I use them in daily, thats 4 batteries twice a day, plus my other gadgets I use them in daily.

This charger will also recondition the batteries. So when they will no longer hold a charge, recondition them and they will be like new again. Yes, eventually these batteries will need to be thrown away. I have had this charger for several months and had the batteries longer and they are still going strong.

Again, search this forum for that charger, there has been discussions about it.
 

Forts

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I second the compliments of the Maha chargers. I've had mine about a year and it's excellent. I was using a 15min Energizer charger beforehand and it seemed to be chewing thru batteries fairly quickly... the led on the charger would just flash and they wouldn't charge. So I grabbed a Maha from Ebay (it's actually branded as a 'Powerex' charger). Think I only paid about $45 or $50 for it, but it works great. I've had good success with the recondition mode, as well as the soft charge (slow, but you get a good solid charge).

And just to keep this thread on topic, with a fresh set of Duracell 2500mah's my 246 gets an average of 11 or 12 hours per shot.
 

Gbcue

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I just got my 246 and this is my only peeve about it. Oh well, I've got tons of Imedion batteries anyways...
 
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