Uniden Bearcat BC296D LIPO/lithium ion battery mod

For many years I have been trying to find a solution to the atrocious BC296D Uniden battery pack (BP120 / BP150 / BP180 / BP250). Other battery packs that held normal AA batteries would not fit. The garbage nicad/nimh battery tech made replacing the rechargeable batteries with something better (like Lithium ion) difficult. single cell lion bats put out a voltage of only 4.2v max, lower than the low battery voltage of a nicad battery pack.

most lion/lipo battery chargers only charged the battery and did not have an output voltage connection AND also would not fit inside the battery compartment. They would also require some kind of boost converter (taking up more space). The boost converter would increase the output voltage of the battery to at least 6vdc

Recently my intermittent (but relentless) searching finally found a combination of components that would fit in the compartment WITH a battery that was the same mah or higher than the nicad packs AND would have a service life longer than nicad/nimh.

for this mod you will need:
1 - J5019 combination 1S single battery charger/boost converter with built in BMS.

1 - LIPO battery pack measuring 10mm X 40mm X 50mm (thickness x length x width) or some type of lithium ion battery that will fit in the compartment with the other components and be of sufficient mah. the lipo or 18650 must have a protection circuit. most lipos do, 18650s usually do not.

1 - DC barrel connector socket that will fit in the narrow confines of the side of the case.

1 - 5v-8v DC power supply.

The resolve to alter your scanner.

I found a DC socket that just fit, carefully measured everything and found a LIPO battery that was 2400mah that also just fit. The boost converter/battery charger fit perfectly as well.

I used 3M 100mph double sided tape to hold the battery in. the BMS has 2 LED's on it a red one for charging and a green one for charged. it has a tiny POT to adjust the output voltage. I set mine to 5.99 volts because it was finicky. I reused the old battery packs connector.

the board is held in with hot glue. the BMS can charge at up to 1 amp. You can run the scanner while it is charging. I have not noted any interference from the boost converter (yet).

You cannot use the original power plug with this mod.