Rechargeable two way radios free you from having to buy disposable batteries every day and from worrying when your batteries will go flat on you.

With a rechargeable battery pack, or a set of rechargeable batteries, inside your portable two way radio, you can use it for work (or play) all day long, then go home and recharge it overnight after plugging it into a battery charger.

So rechargeable two way radios are not just convenient, they will save you a heap of money over the months and years that you would otherwise have had to spend on disposable batteries – such as alkaline AA cells, or the really poor-performing but cheap zinc-carbon batteries. (Zinc carbon cells should really be reserved for childrens toys or cheap flashlights.)

Nowadays, the rechargeable batteries in most portable two way radios are either made from Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH cells) or from Lithium Ion. Older handheld radios used to use Nickel Cadmium batteries (NiCad cells), which were nowhere near as good.

When you buy a rechargeable two way radio, you can expect to walk out of the shop with a mains-powered charger which plugs into the A/C outlet in your home or office. The A/C plug, which may contain its own power supply and transformer, then sends a low-voltage DC electrical current which charges your radio battery pack. This DC connection will either plug directly into the radio itself, or may provide charging current to a base unit you can stand the walkie talkie on.

When the radio is pushed into the charger base, the metal contacts connect it to the battery charger, and your battery pack begins to recharge. Most chargers will have a small LED which lights up to show when the battery is being charged. The better units will change color so you know when the battery is fully charged.

If you use your rechargeable two way radio out in the field a lot, that is away from your home or office, you may find it convenient to purchase a battery charging cable which plugs into your car’s cigarette lighter. That way you can recharge your handheld even while you are driving.

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