Help needed re: Charger voltages

[Wazza Y]

I am hoping someone here could help me, our Station has 3 hand held radio's we want to install into one of our appliances but before we do I need to find out if the supply voltage is compatible. I noticed the power supply supplied with the desktop charger has an output of 10.5V DC so would we need to get a voltage converter to drop it down to 10.5V DC or will it be safe to supply it direct from a 12V DC tap off one of the appliances batteries with a 12V regulator? (the appliance is 24VDC with 2 batteries in series) I have tried emailing the suppliers / maunfacturers but have had no response.
Any information would be very much appreciated.

[vk6hgr]

What brand are the radios?

Generally radios that need 10.5V from the mains charger will not cope well using 12V and it may damage the batteries.

[Wazza Y]

Was worried that might be the case. Looks like I will have to dig through my memory back to pre apprenticeship days of electronics and make a 10.5V regulator or just Google it.
Now I know I should already know this but a plug pack charger is normally just a power supply and doesn't contain any special electronics for charging?
The unit's are VX standard VX-829's

[yorky]

As a last resort, maybe just chuck in an inverter. Only down side is its not as efficient going 24V > 240V > 10.5V but its the 'easy' way out. Just work out the max draw of each charger to get a sufficient inverter model.

The power pack itself won't be anything special, but does the pack plug straight into the radio or a base? Usually the base has the fancy stuff that controls the charging.

[WPXZBP]

Will check at our station and will PM you.

[Nick]

There are carkits and charging adapters available for the VX829 from OCP sales. Very cheap and reliable (and genuine). If you already have a base you can just purchase the adapter. The kit Part number is VCM-2 it comes with power adapter E-DC-24, a 24/12 volt 1.2 amp adapter. For the sake of the radio and reliability I would not be making my own. The entire car kit is less than $80 dollars from memory
Nick


Edited twice

[Wazza Y]

Excellent, Thanks Nick and thanks everyone else for your help, I'll contact OCP on Monday and let the equipment officer know.
Cheers

[robbage]

According to the spec sheet the VX-829 runs on a supply of 7.4 volts.

[Wazza Y]

From memory 7.4V is the battery voltage so the charger supply will always be greater.