GM-15 Pro with Solar; First impressions

[WRXB215]

On Friday, I received my order of:

• Baofeng GM-15 Pro
• Extra batteries
• Solar panels

The radios seem to be working well so far. Still more testing to do here. Have only tried a short test with the stock antennas but sound quality was good.

Friday evening, using the wall charger, I charged the batteries that came with the radios. I didn't time how long it took but wish I had. It seemed to take longer than I thought it would.

Saturday at 10:00am I set the extra batteries outside on a table with the solar panels. The day started off partly cloudy. I was busy but checked them when I could. There were times of bright sunlight when the charge lite was red and times with clouds when there was no light at all. I thought this test was going to be a complete failure especially since it gradually became more cloudy/overcast. At 3:00pm I gave up and brought everything inside and decided to put the extra batteries on the wall chargers to go ahead and charge them up. To my surprise they were completely charged.

Next step is to run the batteries completely down and try the solar panels again. I hope it will be a sunny day when I do that. But charging without complete sunshine is a more "real world" test.

I will give an update in a week or so after I have more info to share.

Special thanks to @Lscott, @Sshannon, and @WRXP381 for their input on solar panels.

P.S.
Someday I plan on getting the stuff I need to charge a UV-5R with solar.

[Guest]

Glad it worked out.