Thread: GME battery life

You can't charge the GME batteries using the cradle and a barrel plug from a 5V USB device. I asked the question to GME tech support once. Here is their reply. "The GME TX61 series of radios use a 7.2V Lithium battery which requires a larger voltage to charge using the supplied charger base.

A 1A minimum 12V supply is required or the battery charge circuit doesn’t work properly. The USB step up device would not work properly, and I notice it draws a lot of current off the 5v source to do that even.

A step-up device to supply 12V @ 1A off a 5V source would draw more current than the international USB standard requiring current of about 3-4A . Typically more current drawn from the 5V USB will shut down most supply devices as they see it as an overload / short circuit.

A small 12V 4Ahr sealed Lead Acid or GEL cell will give you many top ups or a few full charges depending on temp and battery condition."

I've heard from a mate he got a battery bank to charge one once, but it was cooking his battery bank with the high Amps as indicated above. You'll ruin a high quality battery bank trying to do it, or it won't work at all. I use an Ecoflow these days for 10+ day fly in trips. You have the benefit of a battery % indicator on start up with the 6160 series. If it says 60P when you turn it on, it's telling you that you have 60% battery remaining. As stated above though, they suck the juice when transmitting, and they fall off at the end very quickly. Once you drop to 2 bars on the battery indicator you'll only get a few decent transmissions before cutting out.

Regards, Joel