> Not really a Mil Veh question, but does anyone have a line on where I
> can obtain fresh batteries for the PRC-10, and PRC-25 manpack radios?
Well, it's a mil radio, so if you clamp the radio into a mil vehicle,
I think your question counts. :-)
I doubt that any fresh batteries for the PRC-10 exist. I don't think
they have been made for at least 10 or 20 years. Somebody correct me
if I am wrong.
You can make your own batteries, though. Save the carcasses of any
dead batteries you have; you will need to recycle the connectors, and
you may be able to salvage the cardboard shell if the batteries have
not leaked. There's a book called "Power Up!" by Dave Strom which has
plans for making replacements for many of the older military
batteries. You should be able to get it from Fair Radio Sales. Their
address is:
Fair Radio Sales Co., Inc.
1016 E. Eureka
P.O. Box 1105
Lima, Ohio 45802-1105
(419) 227-6573 (voice)
(419) 227-1313 (FAX)
http://alpha.wcoil.com:80/~fairadio/
I don't represent them; I just buy their stuff occasionally.
There's also an audio amp/power supply called the AM-598 that was used
in vehicular installations of the PRC-8 through PRC-10. It needs 24
volts to run. It's roughly a 1-foot cube. The radio clamps onto the
top (with its battery box removed). I don't know of a place where you
can definitely get one. Fair might or might not have any, and I got
mine at a ham radio swap meet. The supply clamps onto a mounting plate
which I do not have and have not seen before.
I have toyed with the idea of designing and building a small DC-DC
converter which runs from 12V and would fit into the battery box with
some 12V gel cells. I don't know if I'll ever get around to actually
doing it, though. It'd be a lot of work, and I have SO many other
projects in progress.... :-)
The book I mentioned also has plans for PRC-25/PRC-77 batteries, but
you may be able to find original batteries that are still good. I
think I've seen them at some ham radio swap meets. There are also
vehicular mounts for the PRC-25 and PRC-77.
Good luck...
-- Mark J. Blair KE6MYK e-mail: mblair@gruumsh.irv.ca.us=== To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.