Battery tester, Clone

Basically similar to the very well regarded Futaba BR-3000, when money is tight, this is a great alternative within the 2-6 cell battery-tester market. Use this for determining the state of charge of your control electronics battery pack regardless of whether you prefer old school NiCd/NiMH, or high performance lithium-chemistry.

ProTip: connect a 2-wire JR-style lead for NiCd/NiMH packs (which typically don't have a balance connector for measuring individual cells) at the 2-pin port. With regard to lithium-type packs, e.g. LiPo, LiIon, LiFe, and super duty LiFePO4 (A123) because they have a balance connector, then making the connection to the tester with it gives you more than just total pack voltage. This is because you can measure the voltage of each cell in the pack at the individual pins of the connector. Arming themselves with this information (voltage of the individual cells) is the 'how' behind pros staying ahead of weak cells (for determining when to put a pack out to pasture).