Mika the Spamkiller wrote in
:

What about radios that use AA cells instead of rechargable battery
pack? As far as I understand, rechargable batteries need to be charged
every now and then even if the radio is not used. And alkaline AA
cells, though have lower capacity, do not decay. I plan to leave the
radio in my grab pack, and would not like to worry about charging NiCd
pack every month...



Oh, that rechargeable advertising is really effective.....(c;

If you're going to use this only for an emergency radio, I highly recommend
using Alkaline AA cells instead of a rechargeable battery pack (which will
kill itself in 3 months). What they don't tell you is a good, brand-name
alkaline battery has 4-8 TIMES the AH capacity of the finest rechargeable.
For instance, an Alkaline D cell for the flashlight is now around 15 AH!
They've gotten much better. AA cells are around 5AH, now. Shelf life on
an alkaline cell is 5 years, so change them out and use the old ones every
couple of years. DO NOT LEAVE THE BATTERIES IN THE RADIO! Radios only
switch the lower-powered parts of the receiver, NOT the big transmitter IC
that provides the RF power output. So, there is always a tiny drain
current you're not supposed to notice leaking away all the time. A marine
walkie will kill its rechargeable in a month of not being charged by it.
Put the alkalines already in their battery holder pack in a ziplock storage
bag attached to the radio for emergency use. That will keep them dry and
reduce leakage caused by salt corrosion in the boat.

Just put them all in the grab bag, but not plugged into the radio and
they'll be ready when you are....Test the radio every 6 months to make sure
it's still working. I have 4 Icom ham radio walkies with perfectly good
batteries that were stored in a closet. ALL FOUR of them failed just
sitting in the air conditioned house whos temperature never varies more
than 2 degrees from 70F. Crazy, eh?

--
Larry