Kenwood TH-D72A - No Aftermarket Accessories?

[CanesFan95]

It looks like there's no aftermarket batteries or chargers to be found anywhere online for this radio. Any ideas where to find 'em? It would be a shame to have to pay top dollar $$$ for the name brands...

Thanks.

 

[AK9R]

So far, none of the aftermarket battery manufacturers have produced anything for the TH-D72. I'm bummed about it, too, but I paid Kenwood's price for a spare battery pack anyway because I couldn't see having a handheld without a spare battery. Apparently, that battery pack form factor isn't used by any other Kenwood radio (amateur or commercial), so the aftermarket hasn't gotten around to making molds for the housings. Maybe, some day.

 

[CanesFan95]

That's a shame. 1800 mAh isn't very much and the prices are very high. I tried e-mailing Batteries America to see if they plan on ever having after-market stuff for this radio.

 

[AK9R]

I asked them about it at the Fort Wayne Hamfest last month and the answer was along the lines of "not at this time".

Compared to the NiCad battery packs on my first handheld, which were only rated at something like 600 mAH and had recharge memory and shelf life issues, 1800 mAH from a lithium battery pack in a radio that uses energy more efficiently is a big step forward.

 

[CanesFan95]

No doubt, it's an improvement. But back in the NiCD days the batteries were often 12 volts. Now it's only 7.4 usually. The current after-market batteries for older HTs are excellent. I've got a few 12v 2300 mAh batteries for the FT-530 and they really last. I wish radios today were still using 12-volt batteries.

 

[AK9R]

The FET output modules they are using these days don't need 12 volts. They can make 5 watts at the lower voltage.

I think I owned an FT-530 in my long line of Yaesu handhelds starting with the FT-23R through the FT-60. This Kenwood TH-D72A is only the second Kenwood handheld I've owned and it's turned out to be pretty nice...except for the lack of aftermarket battery packs.

 

[CanesFan95]

Well, I got an e-mail reply from W&W Manufacturing today:

"We are currently undergoing tests to make this battery available to our
customers. We should have an expected date by Mid-Feb. We will save your
information and will send you an email when we have more information
available. We will also update our website with more information about this
battery. If you have any other questions please call us at 1-800-221-0732."

So that's promising. At least something is in the works.