• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.

Rebuilding Battery Packs

C2

Sr. Member
Aug 3, 2005
2,408
79
158
I've got a couple old 2m HTs and need to rebuild the packs.

The first is a Kenwood TH-21BT and its pack takes six AAA cells. The problem I have is that the battery box does not have the metal contacts, but the box is molded to have them. I'm just having a tuff time trying to bend up some copper wire and am looking for other ideas. I did not want to solder the cells because I don't have a charger to drop the pack into.

The second is an Icom IC-2AT. I have two packs for this one. These use 7 cells that are 1/2 the lengs of an AA. I have not seen these before so I don't know what they are. The pack also has a small charging circuit with a plug for 13.8V.

Anyway, just looking for ideas.
 

The metal contacts.
Doesn't have to be copper, just a conductor. Try some aluminum. You might also look around for some used battery packs. Where? Beats me, try the 'swap' thingys on 'QRZ', etc.
Odd battery size?
Tried looking on the R/C sites? Lots of places will make up battery packs of various sizes and voltages. None will probably fit the HT specifically, but at least it's a start.
And then, if you're really feeling adventurous, combine a bunch of "all of the above" and make your own 'custom' packs. (Ever seen the cartoon of the guy with a 12 volt automotive battery hanging off his belt?)
- 'Doc
 
For the Icom, I figured out that the 1/2 AA size nicad is common in cordless phones. The electric circuit must regulate the 13.8V input to charge the cells (8.4V series) and allow the radio to operate. I'm actually not very fond of this radio because it does not have a tone encoder, but works well otherwise.

I'll probably try to butcher some battery contacts (springs and tabs) from a toy or some other electronics junk. I do need to solder them to the battery tray tabs that actually contact the radio.
 
Thanks Sonwatcher. That battery looks a little long, but the pack does slide onto the bottom of the radio.

The packs I have also have the complete charging circuit built into the pack. I'm not sure if these have the same, but the price is not bad, so I may give it a shot.
 
You have the same bat. pack as my HTX-202 . The longer packs are due to the larger celled battery. I believe the one on the site is 1800.00mah. There is a smaller pack for these radios but both packs work. I believe the smaller packs are around 700mah . Don't last as long as the larger one . I would check with the company about the charging unit in the pack .
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • dxBot:
    Tucker442 has left the room.
  • @ BJ radionut:
    LIVE 10:00 AM EST :cool:
  • @ Charles Edwards:
    I'm looking for factory settings 1 through 59 for a AT 5555 n2 or AT500 M2 I only wrote down half the values feel like a idiot I need help will be appreciated