Rechargeable Batteries
I also just purchased the 396xt, and had a couple of questions earlier this week over the life of the batteries it came with. After tweaking some settings in the scanner, and charging the batteries in the scanner, I got over 10hrs on a single charge.
They do get hot though, so I purchased another charger from Radio Shack, with 2 sets of batteries. Now I charge the batteries in the charger instead. I don't want the scanner to fry...
I labeled each set A-1 thru A4, then B-1 thru B4 etc.. and I rotate them I get over 12hrs per charge per set now. It would have been better to design the scanner with 4 batteries, a little more life and easier to keep track of batteries, but then again it would have made the scanner a little bigger and I really do like its size..
The scanner is awesome though, I have an IC-R20 for several years now, and I definitely like the 396XT although, I really like the built in recorder and dual watch feature of the R-20..
George