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Reviews For: www.batteriesamerica.com

Category: Batteries & Chargers for Amateur Radio

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Review Summary For : www.batteriesamerica.com
Reviews: 63MSRP:
Description:
Wide selection of HT batteries and accessories. Great service. I give them a 5/5
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.batteriesamerica.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00633.2
WD8SBB Rating: 2011-01-23
BP-170L issues Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I am pleased with the order process with BA, and the batteries were fine, but.....

I also ordered a BP-170L battery pack. It allows me to use 6 AA replaceable batteries for my IC-T22A. First thing I noticed was that there was a warning label about oversize batteries on the case. That immediately made me suspicious. I put in 6 AA alkaline batteries and noticed that the case was bulging. Well apparently all major brand batteries must be oversize in BA opinion.

After inspection, I found that the battery spring tabs in the BP-170L case were manufactured so that the tabs went down past the plastic cutout space allowed for the tabs. So basically every battery installed into the pack would force the tab into the pack's side and bulge the pack apart instead of being springy and holding the battery.

So the fix was to get the Dremel tool out and cut the spring tabs shorter. After shortening the spring tabs so that they fit within the designed cutout area for the tabs, everything was fine.

In all fairness, I did not attempt to contact BA on this.

The BP-170L is a nice product and works fine after modification. I can only give it an OK because of shortcomings in manufacturing QA.

73, Ron
KM6CQ Rating: 2010-12-12
Happy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
FNB-102Li : 7.4 volt 2000mAh rechargeable Li-ION battery for VX-8R, VX-8DR,
VX-8GR
It was 45.00 plus 6.95 for the spring belt clip.

There really seems to be a hit and miss with this company. Either they have a good or bad rating. Not much middle ground. I bought a battery from them and I am very happy with the service and the battery. The fit and finish is very good. However I can see not all of you have had the same experience I have. When getting products from third world countries I think you have to expect a certain amount of this. It could very well be the supplier they buy the battery from for this application is fine. But they have some suppliers that are not so good.
Here is what I wrote on another page about what I bought.

"I do not have a way to test this. However this is what I have done.
I set the beacon today for 1 minute intervals on aprs. I turned it on at 06:30
and it quit working around 21:00 tonight at 5.2 volts.
The stock battery pack would give me around 4 hours with this setup."

The rig I used is a Yaesu VX8-DR so there you have it.

Best Regards, Dan
N2ZDB Rating: 2010-11-15
They just want the sale.... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It's clear that Batteriesamerica.com just wants to sell you their batteries and/or charging equipment.....then forget you exist! They are at alot of shows and I often wondered how "fresh" their batteries are?

They don't stand behind their batteries if you have problems with them! I have had many fail pre-maturely and/or just not live up to their expectations!

Forget "Mr Nicad"!
VE7GHV Rating: 2009-09-01
Since I never got my refund, I cannot recommend them. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I think I sumed it up in my original letter to them:

On Thu, Jun 11, 2009 at 10:36 AM, Ed Van wrote:
Dear Sir/Madame

I am in receipt of the products below and I am completely unsatisfied with them. For the amounts being charged, I feel they are shoddy and low quality.

The charger does not work as advertised. My existing ICOM and Realistic batteries do not charge properly. None of them will hold any significant charge when using this charger (they work fine using the existing charging system).

The battery (once fully charged) would not run my Realistic HTX-202 radio. On transmit, the radio generates an error - "ER2". I have seen this error in the past and it indicates that there is insufficient power to transmit, indicating that the battery is not up to powering the radio. Since I ordered the largest battery you offer for my radio to ensure long life in the field, this is reason enough to return the product.

The payment you processed came through on my credit card on May 21st. On or about May 28th, the first of several spurious charges were recorded by Visa. They notified me and we determined that my card had been compromised. My card is now cancelled and I am waiting for a replacement. I mention this because I am very careful with my credit card. You are the only vendor I am not familiar with, have not used hundreds of times and are the only online transaction in the past year.

So I suspect that either your site has been compromised or one of your employees is selling credit card information on the side. In either case, I am currently without a credit card and am singularly unwilling to give the new card number to you when I receive it.

Therefore I must ask you to send me a money order or certified cheque in the amount of $139.95 US with your RMA number so that I may return this hardware to you.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

E. Vandeyck


The products I attempted tp purchase (which have been returned under the RMA issued by the company):

Product Information:

________________________________________

BP-8xh : 8.4v 2700mAh Ni-MH battery pack for ICOM
Part#: BP-8XH
Manufacturer Part#: BP-8XH
(Qty: 1 x $65.00)

EMS-20i : Desktop Rapid-Smart charger for ICOM & REALISTIC style batteries (BP-3, BP-5, BP-7, BP-8, CM-7, CM-8, IC-8, CM-5A, etc).
Part#: EMS-20i
Manufacturer Part#: EMS-20i
(Qty: 1 x $54.95)


So I do not have the products. I do not have my money back and they refuse to answer my emails.

Not a company I can recommend dealing with.
W7KFO Rating: 2009-07-19
Excellent Quality Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I recently purchased hi-capacity NiMH battery packs for my IC-T7H and FT-51R handhelds. Build quality is excellent and performance far exceeds the original equipment (due in part to different chemistries). I also purchased an IC-8 AA case for my old IC-2GAT. Fits perfectly, and the internal trickle charger works well.
AI4HO Rating: 2009-07-18
Works for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have bought several batteries from batteriesamerica for different HT's I've had over the past few years. Csn't really say anything bad about the batteries or the service. I have bought from them, both on line and in person, usually at Dayton, they have always been pleasant to deal with. In one case a friend of mine needed a battery for his Icom IC-W32A. turns out the replacement battery was a lot better as opposed to the stock battery. Since then my friend buys most of his battery needs from batteriesamerica.com. Another satisfied customer here in Florida!!


73 de Mark
W3LZK
K5XS Rating: 2008-07-01
Great Batteries Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I needed a new pack and a AA shell for an old FT-470. Went to their web site, ordered them, and had them three days later. Price was great, fit and finish is good, and batteries are working fine. No complaints here.
OE1SOW Rating: 2008-05-13
the worst sh** I ever bought... Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
If there would be -10 of 5 points, I would
rate that way.
I really never bought such awful piece of...
...of...accessoir !
If thinking about to buy this one, stop thinking of it !
It isn't worth a cent !
I'm really sad about this piece of...hmmmpfff...
OE3SGU Rating: 2008-04-05
satisfied with Kenwood charger Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the EMS-42K fast charger for the Kenwood TH-F7 and the PB42XL 3600 mah battery from them. It was my first order, delivery time was about 3 weeks, which is ok but not too fast. The charger and battery are working as they should. Now the cons: The supplied power adapter is for 120 Volts only. Being European, I would prefer an adapter which is also capable of 230 Volts. No big deal, but annoying. I feed the charger with 12 Volts from a power supply and it works fine. But: Why is it necessary to reverse polarity standards on a product (minus is on the center pin!)? Again, no big deal, but annoying. I might order again from them but only more then one product because the postage was rather high also. All in all: products ok but could be improved, postage high. One last thought: The 3600 mah battery and the fast charger were about 100,-- Euro in total. A lot of money, but the original 1550 mah battery from Kenwood costs almost the same here (you US-guys and girls are really lucky with your bargain prices on Ham Radio products there....). 73 all, Hannes, OE3SGU
K1ESL Rating: 2008-03-24
They've been good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've bought higher capacity packs for my TH-D7A(G) and an IC-T7H, both of which have worked very well. Both of the above radios are famous for lousy Ni-Cd packs, and the replacements from Batteries America work great. Both packs fit the radios perfectly, so there are no complaints there either.

I'm usually picky about shipping rates - but I don't recall specifically that it was overpriced. In any event, the price point for the substantial additional capacity was worth it.