Motorola Solutions Claims up to 27 Hours with New DMR Battery

Smartcom, the Motorola Solutions website that publishes media content that are focused on the Australia & New Zealand markets, investigated recently the extended battery life for two-way radios.

It’s no secret that in today's world, we are working longer hours, and shift workers in particular. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that 41 per cent of men worked nine to 12 hours in their most recent shift, slightly longer than the average for women. One anecdotal evidence shows workers doing shifts of up to 18 hours.

Therefore, radio equipment has to cope with the demands of longer shifts and, if a business runs 24/7, it has to cope with close to constant usage.

According to Motorola Solutions, extended batterry life found in newer DMR radios such as MOTOTRBO enable greater productivity and safety.

The technology that enables this advancement is the new DMR low voltage battery.

Typically, radio power is nominally 7.4V, and a fully-charged battery delivers 7.4V. However, as the battery discharges, its output voltage drops. When the voltage drops to 6V, a standard radio and battery shut off, leaving a significant amount of energy remaining in the battery.

An enhanced radio with a low-voltage battery will continue to operate until the voltage drops to 5V, making more of the battery’s capacity available for use. Low voltage batteries are still nominally 7.4V, but provide power down to 5V.

By using these new type of batteries, staff are constantly protected by communications equipment that stays strong right until the end of the shift.