The ability to charge or replace batteries is your first priority! Believe it or not! This is the most important things to consider in Emergency Radio Communications. I do not know how many times people have showed up with their: One Handheld; their Only Battery; and their Wall-Wart 14 Hour Charger! Even assuming that 110 VAC will be Available to Them - At An Emergency? If this happens to you, Just Send Them Home - NOW!!!!! They will not be able to charge their battery faster than they will run it down. The common terms for rates of charge are: Rapid Charge 1 hour or less Fast Charge 3-5 hours Normal Charge 12-14 hours I like and use the MAHA Rapid Chargers, not only will they charge the average battery in 45 minutes to an hour from either a 110 VAC home outlet but can also do the same from a 12 VDC input, such as a car cigarette lighter jack. http://www.mahaenergy.com *UPDATE: The MAHA 777 Plus has been replaced with the MAHA 777 Plus II. *Apparently there were some problems with the 777 Plus model. *Make sure you get the 777 Plus II with it's additional features *and correction of the problems. ****None of the MAHA chargers will charge a 12 V Battery from a 12 VDC input**** Model Input / Output Truth Table NiCd/NiMH V 777 110 VAC input - (Wall Wart outputs 18 VDC) 4.8, 6.0, 7.2, 9.6, 12.0 Right Red Light will flash - 1 2 3 4 5 Times 12 VDC (or 13.8 - 14.5 VDC Automobile) 4.8, 6.0, 7.2, 9.6 Right Red Light will flash - 1 2 3 4 Times I recomend the 777 for mobile/portable/field use - not exposed to weather. The 12 VDC cigarette Lighter Plugs may be "stacked" to power more than one charger. The 777 has a moveable magnetic thermister to detect heat buildup of the batteries. One discharge / condition cycle available. Radio-Shack sold a clone model of this model under the Radio Shack name. NiCd/NiMH V 888 110 VAC input (may pass 110 VAC through up to 12 888's) 4.8 - 12.0 12 VDC adaptor (not supplied - input jack present) 4.8 - 9.6 I recomend the 888 W/ MHS-800U, for home or command post, 110 VAC Only use. One or three discharge / condition cycles available. (The 888 is designed to be a drop in chager, you must configure a provided cup by driling holes in it and installing contacts to charge a battery. I recomend getting the accessory MHS-C800U Universal Adapter Charging Bed, which basically is an empty 777 shell which plugs into the output jack. This gives you the moveable contacts to connect to almost any battery.) 777 Plus or 777 Plus II NiCd/NiMH V Li V 110 VAC Wall Wart (Puts out 24 VDC) 1.2-14.4 3.6, 7.2, 10.8, 14.4 24 VDC input (Military Vehicle) 1.2-14.4 3.6, 7.2, 10.8, 14.4 18 VDC input 1.2- 7.2 3.6, 7.2, 10.8 12 VDC input (Automobile) 1.2- 4.8 3.6, 7.2 (777 Plus & 777 Plus II NOT RECOMENDED for due to the above input voltage restrictions) (Use of a 12VDC to 110VAC Inverter or availability of 24VDC for the input could change this) I also recommend getting the accessory output alligator based clip leads connector, MHS-CW4, about $5.00. This plugs into the acccessory output jack in the rear of all the MAHA chargers, and you can use it to other batteries or holders as stated below. Also get at least one 8 hole AA battery holder, RS 270-387B, from Radio Shack for around $2.00, to charge your AA batteries with. You can also charge 4 or 6 batteries by "short clipping" it with your MHS-CW4 acessory output charging cable. If you also use C & D batteries a four hole D cell holder, RS 270-396A, this one will work for both, (Stretch the springs and support the batteries for C cells.) Get two D cell holders and use them in series to be able to charge 4, 6 or 8 C or D cells at one time with the 777 or 888 in your car. A set of ten 14" (35.5 cm) Jumper Leads with mini alligator clips would also be handy to have. RS has them as 287-1156C for less than $4.00, you get two each of Red, Black, White, Yellow and Green. In both of my cars I carry a 777, both with the Wall-Wart and 12 VDC cigarette input cable, the accessory output cable, 2 ea 8X AA size & 2 ea 4X D size cell holders in a plastic box in the trunk. *For all of the MAHA chargers: *Never allow the accesory cable leads to touch any of the charger contacts! BOOM!! *Never Move The Polarity Switch On The Charger While A Battery Is Being Charged! BOOM!! *Only charge batteries of the same type and the same Ma capacity together. *Batteries with protective diodes may not charge or condition properly, charge them backwards through the battery radio contacts. *When conditioning or discharging batteries do not remove input power from the charger. ****None of the MAHA chargers will charge a 12 V Battery from 12 VDC input**** *Another viable option is to have a "Clamshell" battery pack and keep it filled with alkaline AA batteries. This will provide more run time for the radios because alkaline batteries have more capacity than any type of rechargeable batteries. If you wish, NiCd or NiMH AA cells may also be used- see below. Most of the above are available from R&L Electronics, 1315 Maple Ave, (Vic RT4 & Fox Hwy) Hamilton, OH 45011 513-868-6399, 10-6 M-F, 10-3 Saturday, Closed Sabbath. http://randl.com *Do not throw out your old battery packs when they are dead, re-pack them! It is cheaper to get insert packs from sources such as "Mr. NiCd", E. H. Yost & Company, 608-831-3443. http://www.batteriesamerica.com Often these replacement batteries will have more capacity than the original batteries which came with the radio. To dissemble battery packs, Start At The Top and work your way down. I use two 1/8 screwdrivers to gently wedge the case halves apart. When re-assembling just apply One Drop of Barge Cement in each corner of the battery pack. Barge Cement comes in a yellow tube for about $4.00 and is normally available from leather smiths and shoe repair shops, Tandy Leather used to carry it. It never really dries, is plyable and by just having one drop in each corner the pack will be much easier to take apart when you have to re-pack it again. Try the shoemaker on the East side of Hamilton Ave South of Compton Rd. I found this source on the net - http://www.columbiaorgan.com/col/glues.htm with a picture of the proper product, a tube will last you for a long time. NiCd or NiMH batteries - which is better? I am sticking with the NiCd's for now. The NiMH are great, more capacity however you have to charge them and use them right away. If you do not they self discharge much faster than NiCd's. NiMH also take longer to charge or they should be charged at a slower rate as to not hurt them. The NiMH batteries often get much more warmer than NiCd's when being charged. I have also heard that if NiMH are charged while they are hot it will destroy them! So for now - in my radio battery packs - I am sticking with NiCd only. http://www.monix.net