Perstel DR101 Battery and Adapter

The DR101 requires an adapter, which provides 3.0 V at 500 mA. The connector has an inner diameter of 0.7 mm and outer diameter of 2.35 mm. The tip should be negative. These adapters are commonly available through on-line shops.

Battery technology has improved vastly in the last ten years and it is possible to obtain high capacity rechargeable cells cheaply. With some of those, I can get up to eight hours of use from a single charge.

Some of the modern radios have lithium-ion battery packs, which eventually require replacing. However, once the manufacturers have discontinued the model, the battery packs usually discontinue as well, or become very expensive. This type of problem does not occur with standard AA size cells.

Electronic Power Switch

Many modern radios use an electronic power switch instead of a physical locking switch because it is cheaper. A major disadvantage of the electronic switch is that the unit draws a small amount of power all the time, and if you were to leave it in storage for a week or two, you can be sure to find depleted batteries when you want to use it. To solve this problem, manufacturers include a recharge cradle or adapter so that the radio continuously charges, which wastes energy.

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