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I bought a Yaesu FT-60R years ago. Instead of coming with a charging cradle, it came only with the NC-88B power supply. The NC-88B power supply isn't very intelligent--I don't believe it stops charging the radio on its own--the radio gets hot if I leave it plugged in too long.

So I'm thinking of purchasing an SBH-13 charging cradle. However, that cradle says it's compatible with the PA-48B power supply, not the NC-88B. The PA-48B is the replacement for the NC-88B. Do I need to purchase a PA-48B power supply for use with the charging cradle or will my old NC-88B work fine?

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    $\begingroup$ My understanding is that any wall wart adapter with the proper Voltage and current specs will work - the cradle doesn't have any way of "knowing" which adpater is being used. Do the specs of your NC-88B match those of the PA-48B? $\endgroup$
    – user14945
    Aug 10, 2020 at 21:04
  • $\begingroup$ The NC-88B is specced to deliver only 200 mA while the PA-48B is specced at 500 mA. The voltage is the same. $\endgroup$
    – watkipet
    Aug 11, 2020 at 22:32

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The shortest possible answer...the SBH-13 will function on any supply that can provide 12V DC and is rated at 500mA of output current. The NC-88B is a no go.

Longer answer...I've used three different 12V supplies on my SBH-13, each one has worked with no issues. The SBH-13 just wants 12V DC, at some current obviously not exceeding 500mA. The circuitry in the charging cradle does the rest.

I dug into the Yaesu AC adapter situation a bit and it looks to me like the PA-48B is discontinued, and the current equivalent is the SAD-25B - according the Yaesu website this is the AC adpater that is specified for use with the SBH-13. The FT-60R I purchased a year ago (Summer 2019) came with the SBH-13 cradle and an AC adapter that says "SAD-25" on it. I don't know why my adapter doesn't have the "B", it may just be part of Yaesu's part numbering..in any case, the specification is still 12V DC at 500mA.

Also...all of the above applies to the US version, which will not allow battery charging via the DC power jack on the radio. Since you mention in your question charging via the power jack, either you have a non-US version, or this was previously a feature on the US version FT-60.

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  • $\begingroup$ I popped the battery off. The sticker on the inside of the compartment says, "FT-60R", and the serial number is 9N030914. $\endgroup$
    – watkipet
    Aug 12, 2020 at 14:12
  • $\begingroup$ Interesting...according to Yaesu's website, the current U.K. version ( FT-60E ) is capable of charging from the radio's DC power jack. Maybe someone with more Yaesu-Fu than I can explain why the U.S. version requires use of the cradle. $\endgroup$
    – user14945
    Aug 12, 2020 at 18:28
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The Yaesu FT-60R Ni-Mh FNB-83 battery can most certainly be charged via the FT-60R DC Power Jack while the battery is attached to the FT-60R, by using the Yaesu NC-88b wall-wart which came supplied with the earlier units for just this purpose. I know, because i own two of the earlier FT-60R's and have charged them for over 8 years in this manner!

I am not certain if it is accurate, but I've read that when Yaesu started supplying the PA-48B and the SBH-13 with the FT-60R (versus the NC-88b walwart) that it removed the internal charging circuitry from the FT-60R, requiring the SBH-13 cradle/PA-48B combo to be used as the means of charging the battery (and then the SAD-25, I guess). But again, I am not certain if this information is accurate.

My manual says "Copyright 2011" on the back cover, so I guess that I'm going to have to take a look at the newer manual, assuming one exists, to see what it says about charging.

It just seems odd to me that the newer models can't still use the NC-88B for charging via the DC power port... But then again, I need to carefully watch my earlier model FT-60R while it is charging via the NC-88B into the DC Power input jack to prevent it from over charging the FNB-83 Ni-Mh (10 hours max per the manual), because it will continue charging the battery just as long as the NC-88B is attached to it, and Ni-Mh type batteries can be ruined by long term overcharging. Don't ask me how I know...

Which is why Yaesu most likely changed its design in the first place, I'm guessing? bob -- k4sss

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  • $\begingroup$ Hello Bob, and thanks for a nice first answer! I removed some extra spaces and put line breaks where it looked like you intended to have paragraphs. Is that okay? $\endgroup$
    – Mike Waters
    Dec 26, 2020 at 1:20
  • $\begingroup$ I know someone who totally fried the NiMH battery for his FT-60 by leaving it constantly plugged in. IMO any NiMH or lithium-based battery should have a smart charger. $\endgroup$
    – rclocher3
    Dec 28, 2020 at 22:17

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