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Vintage Amateur and Military Radio Amateur/military receivers and transmitters, morse, and any other related vintage comms equipment.

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Old 20th Jan 2021, 10:50 pm   #1
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Icom IC-2E battery pack BP-3

I still have this, the first radio I bought when I was originally licensed in 1982. Like many, during lockdown I’ve been dusting-off and playing with some of my older ham gear, especially since catching a nasty dose of Covid-19 in October! One of the many things I’d been meaning to get round to was to replace the rechargeable cells in the original 8.4 volt BP-3 NiCd battery pack.

In the process I sketched out the schematic of the built-in charging circuit. With 13.8 volts applied, the cells charge at around 33mA, which at just over C/10 means the pack could be left on charge continuously without damage.

This pack originally contained seven 1/2AA-sized NiCd cells with a capacity of 250mAh. Half-AA tagged cells seem to be made of unobtainium or some other highly-valuable material these days, judging from the prices being asked for them, but NiMH cells of one-third AA size are available at reasonable prices with a claimed capacity of 250mAh, and seven of these will fit within the BP-3 case with room to spare.

Unfortunately the cells I bought - including a replacement batch - came nowhere near the claimed 250mAh and were in most cases barely a quarter of that. So the next step is to squeeze seven tagged AAA cells in, providing a lot more capacity in the process.

Nearly everyone had an IC-2E back in the early 80s and there must be large numbers still around. It’s pretty basic by modern standards and lacks ‘essential’ features like memories, CTCSS and 12.5kHz channels, but its receiver and audio quality are excellent, and its 1.5 watt transmitter always gave a good account of itself. I’m trying to get some of the locals interested in a vintage VHF net!

73 de Phil G4SPZ
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Old 20th Jan 2021, 11:00 pm   #2
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Default Re: Icom IC-2E battery pack BP-3

You're lucky in one respect, that ICOM battery packs of that period are just screwed together and lend themselves very well to cell replacement, unlike packs for later Icom radios which were ultrasonically welded together.

Since the earliest days I have always made a point, whenever I buy a handheld, of buying the optional 'dry cell battery pack' for the radio while it is still a current model, against the day when neither the manufacturer nor anyone else will supply me with compatible rechargeable packs. (I keep my stuff for a very, very long time).

One thing I have considered for things like my FT290R2 is the possibility of fitting a rechargeable Lithium battery pack (and appropriate charging circuit) inside a pack originally meant for Nicads or NiMHs - apart from anything else there would be a noticeable saving in weight.
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Old 20th Jan 2021, 11:17 pm   #3
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: Icom IC-2E battery pack BP-3

Yes, quite! I do have several other battery packs, which is how I've kept the radio going all these years, but the BP-3 is compact and easy to charge from 12 volts while on the radio.

Coincidentally, I had to buy a replacement battery pack for my IC-E92D recently. None are available at all from Icom or any of their dealers. In the end I got an after-market replacement from Spain. Fortunately it is of very good quality and absolutely identical to the original, which is totally sealed, waterproof and impossible to disassemble, as you say. These expensive radios are barely ten years old but are likely to be rendered obsolete by the non-availability of replacement battery packs. Icom have gone down in my estimation.

I have also converted a few portable devices, including a drill and a torch, which had originally used NiCads etc to take Li-Ion cells (extracted from scrap laptop batteries) and with care during charging, these perform very well indeed.
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Old 20th Jan 2021, 11:39 pm   #4
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Default Re: Icom IC-2E battery pack BP-3

I’ll be very interested to see how this goes, Phil.

I have an IC-2A which is the American version. It hasn't been used since the early 1980s.

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Old 20th Jan 2021, 11:52 pm   #5
Phil G4SPZ
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Default Re: Icom IC-2E battery pack BP-3

Hi Nick and thanks for your interest.

The tagged AAAs are on order from CPC and I’ll post a few pictures here once the job is finished.
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Old 23rd Jan 2021, 9:56 pm   #6
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Default Re: Icom IC-2E battery pack BP-3

Have you tried cycling those 1/3AA NiMH cells a few times? It might bring the capacity up somewhat.

Do they at least weigh about 1/3 of what a known decent 800mAH or so AA NiMH does?

C/10 was fine for charge'n'forget NiCd but NiMH is less tolerant- C/50 is probably OK.
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