If you have an older handheld battery-powered device, you may be fighting a diminishing battery capacity as its lithium-ion cells reach the end of their life. And if you are like [Foxx D’Gamma], whose device is an Alinco DJ-C7 handheld transceiver, you face the complete lack of availability of replacement battery packs. All is not lost though, because as he explains in the video below the break, he noticed that a digital camera battery uses a very similar-sized cell, and was able to graft the camera battery into the shell of the Alinco pack.

Cracking open the Alinco pack, he was rewarded with the rectangular Li-Ion cell and two PCBs, one for the connector and another for the battery management circuitry. By comparison the camera battery had a much smaller battery management PCB, and it fit neatly into the space vacated by the Alinco cell once those covers had been removed. A fiddly soldering job to attach the connector PCB, and he was rewarded with a working Alinco pack and an unexpected bonus when he found out that the transceiver was a dual band model.

Along the way he’s at pains to point out the safety aspects of handling Li-Ion cells, and to ensure that the polarity of the cell is correct. It’s also worth our reminding readers that these packs must always be accompanied by their battery management circuitry. The result though is pleasing: a redundant piece of equipment made obsolete by a proprietary battery, given a new lease on life.

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