About this replacement
Tivoli Audio PAL MA-1 / iPAL MA-1 Series — 7.2V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (MA-1, MA-2, MA-4, PP-2)
This is a 7.2V, 2000mAh Ni-MH replacement battery for the Tivoli Audio PAL and iPAL portable DAB digital radio range. It fits the PAL MA-1, iPAL MA-1, PAL MA-2, PAL MA-3, and related models that share the same battery bay and connector. When the original battery no longer holds a useful charge, this unit restores the radio to full working condition.
- PAL and iPAL model compatibility: The MA-1, MA-2, MA-3, and iPAL variants all run the same 7.2V battery rail with identical physical dimensions and connector orientation. One battery fits the entire line because Tivoli Audio kept the power pack consistent across these revisions.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We ran this cell through charge and discharge cycles on the PAL platform. The BMS accepted charge correctly, voltage held steady through DAB decoder operation, and the radio maintained stable stream decoding at normal listening levels.
- DAB station re-scan after installation: After fitting this battery, run a full auto-scan before tuning manually. DAB radios store station lists in volatile memory — a power interruption resets that list, and manual tuning before a fresh scan will often fail to lock onto stations reliably.
Radio cutting out mid-station at low battery
The DAB decoder in the PAL series requires a stable voltage to process the digital stream. As a Ni-MH cell discharges, voltage sags under the RF and decoding load before the battery indicator reaches empty. That sag causes stream decode errors — the radio drops out, re-buffers, or mutes entirely. This happens more often in areas with marginal DAB signal because the RF front end draws more current trying to lock onto a weak multiplex. If the radio cuts out consistently at what appears to be a partial charge, the original battery's capacity has degraded below usable levels.
Reception noticeably worse after a battery swap
A degraded or partially charged Ni-MH cell cannot supply the peak current the RF stage needs for full transmit search power. The radio stays functional but reduces RF output to protect itself, which lowers effective reception range. After fitting a new battery, charge it fully before your first listening session. If reception is still poor, check that the battery voltage reads at or above 8.4V on a multimeter immediately after a full charge — anything lower points to a cell that did not charge correctly.