As long as we're on the subject of VHF radios, I bought a Standard HX350S radio a year ago, which comes with a drop-in trickle charger. I like the radio a lot--except for the supplied charger which doesn't include circuitry to turn off after it reaches a full charge. According to the manual, it will recharge a fully discharged battery in 15 hours -- but warns not to charge it for longer than 16 hours. Consequently, the way I've been handling this is to leave the radio on until it completely discharges (which takes a long time on "receive mode"), then drop it in the charger for 15 hours. Of course, for another $80 to $120 they will sell you a better charger that does automatically monitor the charge level to guard against overcharging. Considering other types of sophisticated chargers I've seen selling for a lot less, I suspect this is just another way of getting more money for the complete package. Does anyone have any recommendations for perhaps an after-market charger that will automatically shut-off when it reaches full charge? I don't anticipating needing a rapid-charge system, since I always use trickle-charging which is generally easier on the batteries. Thanks Evan Dallas Woodinville, Washington *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 11 Apr 2005 at 20:36, Evan Dallas wrote: > Does anyone have any recommendations for perhaps an after-market > charger that will automatically shut-off when it reaches full charge? Check through catalogues of RC modelers stuff. They use various batteries a lot and the chargers they use are pretty sophisticated. They do smart conditioning and recharging. In spite of that, they're a lot cheaper than the one that Standard Horizon sells. Google RC hobby shops or visit the local one if you're in the right city (i.e. big enough to have a decent hobby shop). One problem will be finding one for such a low-powered battery. The racers are using 2000mAh+ batteries and the standard battery for your unit is only 1100mAh. One model I found on the web recommended not using it for a small battery. Another thing will be adapting it to attach to your battery. The RC chargers probably use things like alligator clips and such - you'll have to make some kind of widget to hold it onto the leads on your battery. If you're adventurous, you could gut the holder you already have. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
[Moderator's Note: Content unaltered. Excessive quoting (including headers/footers/sig lines/extraneous text from previous posts, etc.) have been removed. Please edit quoted material in addition to removing header/trailers when replying to posts.] I have the same radio (350S), and have had it for over 5 years now--have had absolutely no problems with it and have never used a protective bag either. Has been in salt water on a couple of occasions, really cold water frequently (year round paddling on Lake Michigan). I did attempt to remove the battery pack last summer to put on the AA battery pack--but was unable to, I hadn't removed it in a few years and it almost seemed welded in place--didn't force it for fear of needing to buy a new radio. Anyone have an idea regarding this? Back to the charger issue--I've been very careful about the charging process, paying close attention to the time factor. I wonder how using one of my timers I use for turning on/off lights when I'm away would work--why not? Can't imagine putting a timer in the sequence would do any harm--but I'm not an electrician or electronics expert. John Browning Milwaukee, WI *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On 12 Apr 2005 at 9:33, seakayakerjb_at_aol.com wrote: > I wonder how using one of my timers > I use for turning on/off lights when I'm away would work--why not? That should work fine as long as you are always recharging the batteries from a "fully" discharged state. This doesn't solve the discharge problem, but it can solve the overcharge problem. Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Tuesday 12 April 2005 15.33, you wrote: > Back to the charger issue--I've been very careful about the charging > process, paying close attention to the time factor. I wonder how using one > of my timers I use for turning on/off lights when I'm away would work--why > not? Can't imagine putting a timer in the sequence would do any harm--but > I'm not an electrician or electronics expert. Will work well! Just be sure it doesn't switch on again, if you forget about it! Tord *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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