Best two-way radio battery chargers according to redditors

Radio range is dependent on several factors. In no particular order:

Transmit power

Antenna Height, position and orientation

Atmospheric conditions

Surrounding terrain / environment

Overall quality of equipment

Frequency/band

RF gain/loss

Type of antenna

Operator experience

That being the case I would recommend you read up on repeater operation, and look into getting a technician class ham license if you're in the US.(or your local equivalent) Using an HT, and knowing how to get the most out of them isn't as simple as turning on the power and clicking the transmit button, and a local ham radio club can really help with this. It's also a great way to network with other preppers because hams have been in the prepping world since before prepping was ever a "thing".

For a point of reference, this is the radio kit I put together for my own bag:

Yaesu VX-6R with 19.5 inch counterpoise , Signal Stick , roll up J - pole, speaker mic, USB charging cable, & spare battery.

Picture of the J-pole kit with a 10 foot RG-58 extension and weighted cord for getting it up in trees or whatever.

> We like to hike and he's mentioned bring the radio along.

For hiking how about a Mobilinkd APRS modem that bridges his (android only) phone and his radio. Combine this with a Comet SMA-24J/Diamond SRJ77CA/Signalstuff Signalstick (SMA Female option).

> He has a fairly long commute and may like a the car connector.

Get a BNC-SMA female adapter and replace my previous antenna suggestions with the BNC model (Comet BNC-24J/Diamond RH77CA/Signalstuff Signalstick (BNC option)) for compatibility and a Tram 1185 plus UV-82 compatible battery eliminator and handmic. Everyone here more or less recommends a drilling a hole in your car for an NMO mount; its tidier, waterproof and won't damage the paint compared to having a big magnet stuck to your roof, but I realize that isn't an option for a lot of people.

Edit: I typically recommend stuff based on Universal-Radio.com's prices simply because I can navigate their website easily, but there is also hamradio.com which often has slightly better prices at the cost of being a nightmare to navigate.

Here’s the Amazon links for the battery and the cord.

The battery is well reviewed, the cord slightly less so, but I have no complaints so far.

Radio

GPS module

GPS adapter

High capacity battery

Antenna

Paracord

Alibaba is the large quantity site. Meant to target business to business. Aliexpress is the low quantity site meant to target consumers. You might be able to find the same product on aliexpress.

I know this isn't exactly what you are asking for but it should yield 4.5-4.7 V which should be safer for 5v arduino. Also AA batteries have more mAh capacity than 9V so it will last longer.


https://www.amazon.com/MicroUSB-directly-interface-Provides-rechargeable/dp/B074GH8727

I really like the EASTSHINE S2 I picked up last week. Solid little charger with a great feature set and fairly inexpensive as well. Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4NS31O/

It's got quite a few other re-branded names as well, but it's all the same charger. Just pick whichever one is on sale at the time:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072R3197F/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07431LYTP/

The shipping is a great point, I forgot myrcmart can be pretty steep depending on weight and where you live.

I ended up getting 4 zippy 2200 mAh batteries and a charger from hobbyking's west warehouse. I hesitate to give advice on specific models because I've only used one charger, but I got the iMax B6AC which seems to work fine for me.

edit: if you do buy from myrcmart, they have super cheap propellers and tons of misc parts like nuts and bolts for very cheap. I suggest getting spares of everything, you'll spend $10 and avoid problems later.

The simple answer you may be looking for -
Any of the import radios will do MURS and FRS if they are dual band radios. Most Baofengs have an assortment of accessories also including the battery eliminators - https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Eliminator-Charger-Baofeng-Uv-b5/dp/B00DGWG2VA for a relatively low price.

There are a bunch of these on Amazon, but none of them seem to step down the voltage for the charging base.

The other way to go is a battery eliminator but quality again seems to be iffy.

https://www.amazon.com/Retevis-Six-Way-Charger-Baofeng-POFUNG/dp/B015E7V78W

That's some pretty decent savings if you only spent $30 and would still have 4 more needing charging. Nice work

Okay this is what I did. I purchased this plug: http://amzn.to/2AooZYE, and then wired it into a 12v wall wart also found on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2B3ctKk. If you have any questions just let me know I am more than willing to help you out!

Part 2: Links and costs.

Note: I didn't realize the Aegis mini is half the capacity of the drag mini. As well as it only goes up to 80w. This still works for the single-triple mesh coils

Check list for internal battery mods:


The mods:


Drag mini $55: https://www.elementvape.com/voopoo-drag-mini-117w-tc-box-mod


Legend Mini $40 (half the battery life of the drag mini):


https://www.elementvape.com/geek-vape-aegis-mini-80w-tc-box-mod


Drag 1 $40:

https://www.elementvape.com/voopoo-drag-157w-tc-box-mod

Drag 2 (Very minor difference from Drag 1) $58:

https://www.elementvape.com/voopoo-drag-2-177w-tc-box-mod

Aegis Legend $54:


https://www.elementvape.com/geek-vape-aegis-legend-200w-tc-box-mod


The Tank $24:


https://www.elementvape.com/freemax-mesh-pro-sub-ohm-tank

The Replacement coils $12-14 for 3 coils:


https://www.elementvape.com/freemax-fireluke-mesh-pro-replacement-coils I recommend the single mesh at first. If you have extra money you might want to try the double mesh.

The Batteries $22 for 4:


https://liionwholesale.com/collections/batteries/products/lg-hg2-18650-battery-genuine-tested-20a-3000mah-flat-top-wholesale-discount?variant=15414707093598

You want 4 batteries because you always need two sets, the ones you're using and the ones you're charging.

The battery charger $19:

https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Charger-EASTSHINE-S2-Rechargeable/dp/B01N4NS31O


This should set you up. If you get an internal battery mod that's gonna run about $76-91 bucks not counting shipping or getting e juice.

If you get an external battery mod this will run about $115-130.

I realize now I misspoke about the price difference between Voopoo and Geekvape Mods. Just get whichever one looks best to you as they're all great. Anthony vapes also has a ton of mod reviews here if you want to compare mods.


Anyway this should have you set to go at the start. You'll need to get 18650 battery wraps in the future, but this is all you need to start.

I bought this upgraded battery charger from Amazon for less than 10$ during a sale. I've noticed that my batteries seem to last longer vs when I was using the included charger.

Just like this one /u/quietlifeintheforest https://www.amazon.com/TENQ-Battery-Eliminator-STANDARD-FNB-V57H/dp/B01N6NWIVQ/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?keywords=ft-65+battery+eliminator&qid=1565101265&s=gateway&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1 keep searching, this isn't the right one for you but is the item you are after

To answer your question, yes, Kenwood has some reasonably solid gear, so $50 is definitely less than the cost of the radio to get it to work. FYI: this is the same charger for less. Just search KNB-45L battery charger and I'm sure you could find one even cheaper.

However, if your goal is amateur use, this radio might work. It's meant for PMR446, a private land mobile-type radio service. So, no VFO, and I'm not even sure you could program it to do repeater offsets and the like - there may only be preset channels, much like an FRS walkie talkie. Not very familiar with PMR446 myself, so it's hard to say.

For the record, if you want a cheap UHF HT, browse ebay for a bit. It's easy to find great deals on used handheld radios that are designed for amateur use.