Vertex Standard VX-168 FNB-V88 7.2V Replacement Battery

Vertex Standard VX-168 / VX-110 Series — 7.2V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (FNB-V88)

This is a 7.2V, 1800mAh Ni-MH battery pack for the Vertex Standard VX-168, VX-110, VX-120, VX-127, and over 30 additional compatible models. It replaces OEM part numbers including FNB-V88, FNB-V83, FNB-V94, FNB-57, FNB-83, and FNB-64 variants. Capacity is 12.96Wh — matching original specification.

• VX-100/VX-160 platform compatibility: These models share a common 7.2V two-cell Ni-MH voltage rail, identical BMS handshake pin layout, and the same latching connector geometry. That is why one pack covers the full range — the battery management circuitry and contact strip are uniform across this Vertex Standard platform generation.
• Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this pack through full charge and transmit load on the VX-168 body. The BMS held the 7.2V rail steady through PTT keying, and the charger dock accepted the handshake on first insertion without fault indication.
• First-insertion contact protocol: If the charger dock shows a fault LED on first seating, remove the pack, wipe the gold contact strip with a dry cloth, and reseat firmly. The Vertex Standard dock requires a clean contact cycle to complete the BMS handshake before charge current begins — this is not a defective pack.

Why the VX-168 cuts out mid-transmission on a freshly inserted pack

Ni-MH cells ship at storage voltage — typically 6.8V to 7.0V, not full charge. When PTT is pressed, transmit current draw spikes sharply, and a pack at storage voltage can sag below the radio's BMS cutoff threshold in the first few seconds. The radio reads this as an undervoltage condition and drops the transmission to protect the RF output stage. This is not a fault with the pack — it resolves after the first full charge cycle brings cells to their rated 7.2V working voltage.

Bar indicator showing one fewer bar than expected after a full charge

The VX-168 uses a simple voltage-threshold bar display — each bar maps to a fixed voltage step, not a capacity percentage. A new Ni-MH pack fresh off charge can read one bar low if the cells have not yet completed a conditioning cycle. Ni-MH chemistry requires two to three full charge-discharge cycles before cells stabilise at peak voltage. After the second full cycle, the bar indicator will reflect the correct charge state.