Hello all! I am a huge fan of the Radio South Regulator and was just at the shop yesterday. I have had very good success with the following: NMP Lithium Ion 2400 battery, Futaba Heavy duty switch, Radio South Regulator (various ranges regulated) and various choices of receivers which follows in that order. I have never tried any other brand due to the success that I have had in the future and everything that I described has worked flawlessly for years. I would have to agree that the extra lead would be for checking/charging purposes but that is why I choose to use a switch that I know that I can't go wrong or have to question which is which. I would also have to agree with UAL767 in that if you are reading 8.3 coming out of the regulator then something would be wrong with the regulator.