You might consider getting the empty battery tray and using six AA cells. I use NiMH cells because they do a great job and have a long life in terms of how long they stay charged when not being used and how many charge cycles they will last.
I use the Eneloops brand (originally a Sanyo product, but now a Panasonic brand). I bought three "sets" at Costco a number of years ago so I could have three four-cell chargers (two for my FT-60R so I can charge all of a six-cell set at once and one for the outboard flash in?my camera bag). For each of those applications, I carry the chargers and a spare set of batteries.
Each of my Eneloop sets came with a charger; 8 AA cells; 4 AAA cells; and two adapters in each of two sizes (C cell and D cell) that allow using the AA cells for C and D cell replacements. I don't see that brand on Costco's website currently, but they do show "Duracell Ion Speed 4000 Rechargeable Battery Kit with 4 x AA Batteries and 4 x AAA Batteries" (and a charger). Amazon shows an assortment of NiMH battery packages so they shouldn't be hard to obtain.
There are different grades of these batteries and their physical sizes may differ. Perhaps some of the folks in this group could comment on that--I haven't experienced that with the cells I have, but it could be an issue with? cells fitting into the battery tray.
73,
JERRY, N3AA
?
