First Home project - car charging cord for HT

[K5UNX]

I recently started getting back into Ham radio after 15 years away. 15 years ago, I was only active for about 6 months  . . . So I recently bought a Yaesu FT-60R with the add on mic. I did not get a car charger. So I am volunteering for a local race in 10 days and needed a car charger. After a little research on the net, I dug up a car charger plugin with some fuses that a friend gave me years ago for my first HT. I found a Sony CD Walkman charger that had the same tip the fits the Yaesu. A little solder, double checking things with a ohm meter to make sure I have + and - correct, and a little while later I have a cigarette lighter cord. I went out, plugged it into the car and it works! My first radio home project. Saved me $30 or so and the stress wondering if the charger would make it in time.  I really need to learn how to solder better

wayne

[W5FYI]

Practice makes perfect.

Welcome to the world of homebrewing.

[KA4POL]

Congratulations for your first project.
Now, as you said, you have been away from ham radio for 15 years. That's quite some time for developments. Your HT does have NiMH batteries. They require a certain charge mode. Does your charger cover this? Is the charger's voltage adequate? It would be quite disappointing to find these things out the hard way. So by any means make sure the battery is not overcharged.
Don't misunderstand me, I am just trying to support your future homebrewing projects by avoiding early frustration 

[AA4PB]

KA4POL is correct. That fact that it charged the battery is not necessarily an indication that all is well. Different battery types and sizes have different charging requirements (voltage and current). It is quite possible to shorten a battery's life expectancy if you don't use the correct charging technique.

[K5UNX]

It's a Yaesu FT60R. In the manual is says that external 6-16V DC is acceptable. I know the car DC outlet puts out 12V so it's well in that range. I also found out, then when you plug in the power adapter tip into the radio, it disconnects itself from the battery power. When in the radio, it won't power on even though the batter is charged. So the actual charging circuitry must be internal to the radio and not in the external power adapter.

I did a lot of research on the web and found that this seems to be common for this radio. Several youtube videos showing all kinds of power adapters that people made for this radio.

I also found this thread in the process: http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?208775-Yaesu-FT-60R-DC-power

I don't plan on running it this way a lot, just when I am low on power.

[K5UNX]

So I used my little project last weekend volunteering at a bike race. Worked well without any issues. I suppose it's a power cord rather than a charging cord.

[AA4HA]

If it was not for being so gosh-darned tiny to work within an HT you could make a charging circuit in the radio and use a regulator, resistor and diode to feed the batteries. I have done that with quite a few portables that use NiMH cells like Grundig's and a Sangean so the battery trickle charges when the adapter is plugged in.

Again, I trickle charge them at a very low rate but it is nice to have a portable with topped up batteries when the electricity goes out. 'long time ago I tried that with lead-acid and non-rechargable batteries, those were "lessons" in how not to do it. (a lesson is something that you can escape from without loss of life, limb or permanent damage to equipment).

[KA4POL]

a lesson is something that you can escape from without loss of life, limb or permanent damage to equipment.

I hope for everybody that lessons remain as per your definition. Unfortunately some even experience lessons with injuries and/or damage to equipment. May be you should define them as good and bad lessons.