The Kenwood TK-3201, by a long stretch, was one of the best selling “licence free” business-grade two way radios ever made. But when buying batteries there’s a big gotcha and many people buy the incorrect battery. So, what’s the gotcha?
The Kenwood TK-3201T was originally released with a KNB-29N or KNB-53N nickel-metal hydride battery or a KNB-30A Nickel-Cadmium battery; and a KSC-31 charger, which is only capable of charging a Nickel Metal Hydride or a Nickel-Cadmium battery.
Then, because the industry was moving more and more in the direction of Lithium-Ion batteries, Kenwood re-released the Kenwood TK-2301 now as the TK-2301T2 (which meant 2nd generation, not MK2). The T2 generation version was supplied with a KNB-45L lithium-ion battery. The KNB-45L battery has the same radio fitting profile as the old batteries so it will fit a TK2301. However, Kenwood was forced to change the charge profile and so needed to introduce a new charger that was lithium battery compatible.
Therefore to find the correct Kenwood TK-2301 battery, you need to check your charger model and your radio model, not just the radio itself.
New Dual-Profile Charger Released
Kenwood has released the KSC-43 charger which is able to charge both the 1st generation Ni-Cd and NiMH, and 2nd generation Li-Ion batteries as it has a dual charging profile. If you have a fleet of TK2301 and you have some with KNB-29N/KSC-31 and some with KNB-45L/KSC-35S charger, we recommend you only buy the KSC-43 charger to cover all bases.
Trivia: The Kenwood TK-2301 is a discontinued radio and was eventually replaced with the TK-3301. The TK-3301 takes the KNB-45L lithium battery and the KSC-35S charger. TK-3301 has also now been replaced with the Kenwood TK-3501. The TK-3501 takes an entirely new battery, but does fit the KSC-35S charger.
Reference Table
| Radio | Charger | Compatible Batteries |
|---|---|---|
| TK-3201 PMR446 Licence Free TK-2202 VHF Licensed TK-3202 UHF Licensed |
KSC-31 | Original Batteries:KNB-30A Ni-Cd 1100mAh KNB-29N NiMH 1500mAh KNB-53N NiMH 1400mAh or Compatible Batteries: |
| KSC-35S | Original BatteriesKNB-45L KNB-63L or Compatible Batteries: |
|
| TK-3301 PMR446 Licence Free TK-2302 VHF Licensed TK-3302 UHF Licensed |
||
| TK-3501 PMR446 Licence Free TK-2000 VHF Licensed TK-3000 UHF Licensed |
KNB-63L |