What sort of battery life do people get with one of these?
Mine seems to be quite woeful. Like 25 minutes. Last week on G/WB-005, using a speaker mike and earpiece, stock antenna…
About a 3 minute QSO on 2m, a failed QSO lasting about a minute (Other party couldn’t hear me due to me just using the stock antenna) again on 2m
About a 4-5 minute QSO on 23cm (full power for 3 minutes, Low power for the other 2)
Probably 4 or 5 CQs, received a reply, changed channel and the thing just died.
I haven’t used it all that often, probably about 10-12 times.I seem to remember a similar issue last time, but I’d used it a lot longer before it just died.
Anyone else have a similar issue with one?
Don
m0hcu
Hello Don -
I have a DJ-G7 and the similar radio, the DJ-G29. I like them both very much.
One of them eventually had poor battery life after about two years of SOTA use, and I purchased two new batteries (on sale!). So I’d say you also have a failing battery, similar to my experience. Replacement is likely your best option - or you could connect it to a 12V battery and run with it that way.
73, Etienne-K7ATN
Carefully remove the battery cells
-inserted new ones with strip terminals and larger capacity
The 700mAh capacity has been increased to 2000mAh.
Jan OK2PDT
My original battery ended up lasting <10 minutes. The replacement lasted for 3 summits a couple of weeks ago, and was still going at the end.
[edit: just remembered that the battery that it originally came with was duff and quickly replaced - so the ‘original’ as mentioned above was actually #2, and now I’m on #3.]
Thanks all,
I guess the battery is duff then. Bit of a bummer since it hasn’t had a great deal of use, but it’s now out of warranty,of course.
Seems like there are none in stock in the UK (or EU) and it’s a different pack to Jan’s so I guess it’s not possible to fit AA batteries in there. So it looks as if an external power supply is needed, which is a bit unfortunate for a hand held. Don’t fancy lugging around a Tracer battery just to use it,maybe I’ll look at using a small lipo. Wonder if an 11.1v one would suffice?
Jan’s is a NiCd pack EBP-37N and my DJ-G7 has a LiIon pack EBP-73. You can get a dry cell pack for the DJ-G7 that takes 4 AA cells.
The DC connector on the DJ-G7 is the same as the Yaesu FT 817/VX170. You could use your 817 lead if you had an 817 with you. I now have a lead with me that I can use to power either handy (DJ-G7 or VX-170) if I know they’ll be used a lot on an activation, such as the LD S2S event of last year.
No idea Carolyn. I just went and checked in case I was being delusional. I got an 817 lead from the holiday expedition box and plugged that into the VX-170 and a battery pack and the charge LED lit. Then I got the DJ-G7 from the microwave toys box and powered it on its battery, up it came then I plugged in the lead from the VX-170 and removed the DJ-G7 battery and it stayed on working FB. I wiggled the connector and it’s a good fit, not loose and not tight, just right (as Goldilocks would say). Bizarre.
I got my Alinco as part of a job lot with Brian G4ZRP. We got 2 returns in a deal. His is deaf on 2m and mine has an iffy power switch (I just pull the battery/power and don’t use the switch). They were incomplete I got a charging cradle and Brian got a charger. £80 each with a “it works as described or your money back” warranty was too good to pass when they were current. The cable that works in the charge cradle I made myself from a plug I found in the shack power plugs box. That cable doesn’t work in the radio, it’s 1mm shorter reach than an 817 plug. It was only last year I found that an 817 plug fitted and powered the radio. I checked the 817 cable in the charger and it’s tighter than in the radio.
I purchased a well used DJ-G7 and found the batteries depleted quickly; so I purchased a new battery and desk top charger. And I made up a power cord to operate as needed from my LiPo. But battery life seemed too short so I use this HT only for 23cm and rely on my Th-D74A for GPS, APRS, and 144, 222, and 446. When I carry the DJ-G7 to a summit I carry 2 batteries for back up. A friend uses the DJ-G7 for all three bands and has no battery life issues. I have thought that operator error might be an issue or just bad luck! Even so, I’m still looking for a DJ-G29 to add 33cm to my capability! I wonder if there is a non-OEM battery available?
There is always a non-OEM option but whether it is worth the money is debatable. I have just ordered a replacement NiMH battery pack for my VX-170 which I bought back in Mar 2008. I saw someone selling a LiPo pack and charger that had a better capacity for about £35. The pack had a smart battery controller in it. Or it claimed to have. I wasn’t sure how it would work with external 12V supplies and the charger came with a EU plug not UK. So there were minor issues that would need solving.
However, it was a direct from the Middle Kingdom on eBay so it would attract “sales tax and duties” when it got to the UK. Based on my experience of buying from Chinese eBay vendors and the chance you may get a load of total junk with no warranty compared with the fact that the original Yaesu battery only lasted 12 years I decided I’d buy another genuine item at £28 inc. P&P with lower capacity and more weight but with some possibility of quality control!
You pays your money and takes your chance… Yaesu OEM with warranty please.
Hmm, it appears that the 817 lead does, in fact, fit my DJ-G7… bizarre.
I’m still not overly enamoured with having to take an external supply to use a hand held.
I only took this hand held as I was just having a wander about the Long Mynd, and I knew it would probably be busy. Failed to qualify it as the issue arose, but did manage something like 114km on 23cm (Including on lo power!) so that was quite satisfying
Ive been using the DJ-G7 for all my activations, I have noticed that the side mounted power button enables it to turn itself on when its bouncing around in my pack, which cost me my first activation. Now I hike with the battery out. The batteries last me quite a while, Ive only used the spare once, although they do get nice and hot.
Nevada Radio claim to have the Alinco EBP-73 in stock at the moment. Other suppliers may be available, but Nevada managed to ship a couple of these batteries to me just before Christmas.
EDIT - I just noticed you need to drop the hyphen and only search for EBP73 on their website!
