About this replacement
Motorola SX700R / TalkAbout FV700R — 4.8V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (KEBT072A)
This is a 4.8V, 700mAh Ni-MH replacement battery for the Motorola SX700R, M370H1A, TalkAbout FV700R, and TalkAbout SX700 series two-way radios. It matches OEM part numbers KEBT072A, KEBT-072-A, KEBT072, and BNH-370. Voltage and cell count are identical to the original pack.
- SX700R and TalkAbout series fit: These models share the same 4.8V four-cell Ni-MH pack format, connector pinout, and physical housing. The BMS handshake is identical across the range, so one pack fits all listed models without modification.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this pack through a full charge-discharge cycle on an SX700R dock. The BMS accepted the charge handshake on first insertion, held stable voltage across simulated PTT transmit bursts, and showed no overcurrent trip under repeated keying.
- First insertion on the dock: If the charger LED blinks or shows a fault on first seat, remove the pack, wipe the gold contact strip with a dry cloth, and reseat firmly. The TalkAbout dock requires a clean contact cycle to register the new pack before charging begins — this is not a fault with the battery.
Why the SX700R cuts out mid-transmission on a freshly installed pack
A new Ni-MH cell ships at storage voltage — typically 1.0–1.1V per cell, well below the 1.2V nominal. When four cells in series sit at storage voltage, the pack reads around 4.2–4.4V at rest. The SX700R's transmit circuit draws a sharp current spike the moment PTT is pressed. If the pack hasn't completed at least one full charge cycle, that spike can pull cell voltage below the radio's cutoff threshold, dropping the transmission. Charge the pack fully before first use and the issue clears.
Bar indicator showing one fewer bar than expected after charging
The SX700R uses a simple voltage-threshold bar display — each bar maps to a voltage window, not a capacity percentage. A new Ni-MH pack that hasn't been cycled yet may rest at 4.7V after its first charge rather than the full 4.9–5.0V a conditioned pack holds. The radio reads that as one bar short. Run two or three full charge-discharge cycles and resting voltage will stabilise. After conditioning, the indicator should read full at or above 4.85V under light load.