Alkaline battery pack shootout: Btech GMRS-V1 vs. Wouxun KG-805G

[Michael Gold]

Having recently blasted out messages to Albany FRS users that emphasized needs for suitable backup batteries, and recommending radios that can work with alkaline batteries if necessary, It's becoming important to provide similar advice to Albany GMRS users and people in Albany who are interested in getting a license. But from there the story has some twists, so here is my review of the alkaline battery packs for the 2 GMRS radios that seem to be in most common use.

Photos of the Wouxun parts are here.

Photos of the Btech/Baofeng parts are here.

Btech BL-8 AAA battery pack for Btech GMRS-V1 radio

To repeat, this is an AAA battery pack, not an AA battery pack. I was disappointed,  but the slim-profile design of the lithium battery case would make it difficult to design an AA battery case. BL-8 fits 5 AAA alkaline or carbon batteries, or 6 AAA NiMH (or NiCd) rechargeables.  The instructions recommend against inserting 6 alkaline or carbon batteries, in which case the receiver will work but the transmitter will not work. The case comes with an AAA-sized "Placeholder" (dummy battery), for use with alkaline or carbon batteries, meaning that it's important not to lose the dummy!

it's difficult to use the BL-8, much as users are puzzled by other aspects of the GMRS-V1 radio (and its parent model, the UV-82). Photos I link above show where I insert a small screwdriver to open the case. They also show how the batteries tend to pop out. Amazon reviewers note these flaws. Users need to be mechanically inclined and/or highly motivated. BL-8 is not for the impatient. The part is easily available from, for example Baofeng or Amazon.

Wouxun BAO-001 AA battery case for Wouxun KG-805G GMRS radio

I was satisfied with the performance. The case fits 5 AA batteries. The main criticism, if it is one, is that BAO-001 is only compatible with alkaline and not with NiMH (or other rechargeable) batteries. Some Amazon reviewers complained that the case is hard to open - one of the photos shows how I open it.

The twist in the story has been availability. The main source for KG-805G is Buytwowayradios.com so I recommend them as the first place to look for the BAO-001 battery case. It was not in stock in recent weeks, but as luck would have it, they seem to be in stock there now as I write this. Other sources for BAO-001 are Amazon (or 2 cases at a discount here), Better Safe Radio, and Powerwerx

Vendors other than Buytwowayradios.com do not advertise BAO-001 as being compatible with KG-805G, but a BAO-001 that I recently purchased from Amazon is certainly compatible. Generally, accessories that are compatible with Wouxun KG-UVD1P ham radio are also compatible with KG-805G. And Wouxun's website states that BAO-001 is compatible with with KG-UVD-1P.
.

Concluding thoughts

I'm much more comfortable owning and recommending a Wouxun KG-805G now that I know the alkaline battery cases are compatible, easy enough to use, sufficiently available, and have a decent storage capacity. The AAA case for the Btech GMRS-V1 is a strike against recommending the radio.

On to some related topics: Where to get alkaline batteries? I recommend Ikea AA and AAA batteries. Extensive tests that biomedical engineer Gough Lui performed on dozens of brands of batteries showed that Ikea provided the best value for money among all AA alkalines tested (I paid about $3 per 10 batteries there recently), and Ikea AA batteries' energy storage was well above average.

Not related to alkaline batteries, but for good measure: GenOak is selling the KG-805G plus a high-capacity lithium battery at a discounted price.

Regards to all

-MG WRJB283 GMRS

[Doug Mosher]

Thanks Michael, great info.

FYI, it's recommended not to use 1.2v rechargeable AAs in the Wouxun KG-2A-1 battery case because total voltage is then 6v, which is just where the (mine anyway) Wouxun KG-805G shuts down. Versus 1.5v for alkaline AA batteries for a total of 7.5v, which is within the normal operating voltage for the radio.

However there are now 1.5v (claimed) rechargeable Lithium-Ion AA batteries on the market (e.g. https://www.amazon.com/TENAVOLTS-Rechargeable-Batteries-rechargeable-electrical/dp/B07HQ7QV7W) that should do the trick, although not as inexpensive as Ni-MH rechargeables. I'm ordering a set of these to test.

Thanks for the plug for GENOAK (www.genoak.org). We do have a few Wouxun KG-805G + high capacity battery sets remaining for sale at 10% discount, programmed (for GENOAK and BeCERTAINN plus a few other local repeaters) and delivered (or meet half-way if you're not near Oakland... ;-) ).

-Doug
WQOY819 / KI6DOG

www.genoak.org

---------------------------------------------
 Doug Mosher
 OCP&R Program Manager
 Oakland Firesafe Council
 415.297.7457
 www.oaklandcpandr.org

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[Geoff Lomax]

Yes, excellent summary.

I have become a big fan of the Wouxun KG-UV 5 and 6D. I find the outperform my AnyTone that in theory is higher power and are just as good as my Yaesu VX5.

You can also get a car charger back for the Wouxun so lots of ways to keep it running.

On Nov 23, 2020, at 9:52 AM, Doug Mosher <dtmo...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Stuart Strickland]

The Wouxun car charger pack is part no. ELO-001 and is readily available on Amazon and elsewhere.

On Nov 23, 2020, at 12:22 PM, 'Geoff Lomax' via BeCERTAINN <becer...@googlegroups.com> wrote:



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[Doug Mosher]

Tested and verified that the 1.5v AA Li-Ion rechargeable batteries work well in the Wouxun KG-805G BAO-001 AA battery case. Radio reports 7.6v which is fine.

These (https://www.amazon.com/TENAVOLTS-Rechargeable-Batteries-rechargeable-electrical/dp/B07HQ7QV7W) are not cheap, $55 for 6 batteries and a charger. Each battery has its own LED noting when charging and charged. Hopefully the price of these Li-Ion rechargeable AAs will come down over time.

Nice thing is that the charger runs off USB so if you have a 12v USB car charger for your phone, you could recharge these in the field and use the radio remotely. Or use the corded 12v ELO-001 charger if you can stay next to a 12v battery.

Also, BuyTwoWayRadios.com just announced a new GMRS base/mobile radio, the KG-1000G (https://www.buytwowayradios.com/wouxun-kg-1000g.html). 50w output and you can connect 2 together to create your own repeater (uh oh...). Looks nice but at $320 I don't plan to test one out (already have a base/mobile GMRS unit), will be interested though to hear if anyone else picks one up.