Batboard

Hello, my question relates on the gp68 charger. The unit I purchased came with a 220V std charging unit. Is there a 110V rapid charger available for this unit? If so, what motorola part number? I ordered a charger off ebay that said it was a rapid charger for an SP50/SP10/GP68, and got a std charger for an sp50! GP68 dont fit! any help is appreciated! Thanks, A ham in WA

I have had a few requests on this same problem. These so called GP68 chargers are NOT made by Motorola or even Motorola China, but piss poor knockoffs... So, if you like, I will look into how the knockoff chargers can be made to work without spending $70 for a REAL charger. BTW, the "REAL charger" is NOT made by Motorola either.

Motorola did, past tense, have an adaptor that was used in the SP50 charger, and that adaptor and SP50 charger was supplied with the GP68, AP7x radios Motorola made.

As far as power furnished to your GP68 charger, buy a wall wart transformer with
a 117VAC input and the correct output, which I think would be 12 to 15VDC.
At one time Radio Shack carried these with plug adapters to fit whatever jack
was being used. You can probably check this online at their website.

W&W in Hicksville NY makes drop in chargers with the correct sleeve for the GP68.
Their chargers are furnished with the correct wall wart transformer.

Motorola did ship the GP68s with a drop-in adapter so the charger they shipped (which
was too fat for the GP68) would hold the GP68 securely.

The reason you got a 220VAC wall wart with your radio is that Motorola never
intended for the radio to be sold where 117VAC was the usual power source. It was
intended for the Far East/Asian market.

Or an inexpensive alternative is picking up the HTN8232 wall wart (6.00 list price). Plug the jack from this right into the smaller jack on the radio's accessory connector, works just fine but takes around 20 hrs. with the hi-cap battery to fully charge.
To answer your original question the 'proper' rapid charger for your application is the HTN9013B charger (still available) with the PMLN4069A adapter (was about $3. if still available). But as Will indicated there is/was a EBay seller peddling non-genuine junk so be careful of the source.

Will this setup work with a 2100MaH Nickel Metal Hydride battery or do I need something different to charge this battery up? The Nicad battery that came with it won't hold a charge very long. I need something that will slow charge the NmH battery.

KI4GKD wrote:Will this setup work with a 2100MaH Nickel Metal Hydride battery or do I need something different to charge this battery up? The Nicad battery that came with it won't hold a charge very long. I need something that will slow charge the NmH battery.

Yes, just takes much longer to fully charge. You will have to measure the charge current and calculate how many hours you need.

BTW where do you get the hi cap NiMh bats for the GP68?

I got mine at http://www.batteriesamerica.com/ $49.00 plus shipping. They don't sell a charger for it. I use there batteries on my Icom HT's as well. Work great.

By the way Will the Hi Cap battery is longer then the OEM NiCad by a inch or so. It fits mine well. The only issue it may cause for some is if they have the optional leather carrying case it may not fit in there well. I understand some of these cases have a spacer in them that can be removed to accomodate the larger battery.