G'day

NiCd batteries are becoming less common these days and are being replaced by NiMh batteries which are very similar in operation to NiCd. There are differences though but I will not go into them here. They mostly relate to the amount of current the cells can provide and charging needs for fast chargers. They don't affect their performance in our receivers and transmitters.

My transmitter packs measure about 11.4 volts when just off the charger but this falls to about 10.5 after a few hours. The 9.6 voltage is nominal based on the cells having a nominal voltage of 1.2 Volts under load. A fresh battery usually measures something like 1.36 volts or even higher.

I'd second the idea of discharging the battery and noting how long it lasts. Don't over discharge it though. Keep an eye on it. If you go below 0.9 volts per cell, you can damage the battery. A couple of charge/discharge cycles will help the pack sort out its chemistry.

If you need to replace the transmitter battery and if you need to buy a receiver battery, see if you can find packs made from Sanyo Eneloop NiMh cells. They are excellent batteries with a very low self discharge so that after a year they still hold at least 80% charge. I am gradually moving all my packs over to these and am very happy with them.

Cheers

Mike in Oz