Thanks for the feedback.
Even with the stock 80mAh NiCd's, you can do a double charge from the controller. It really helps the runtimes, as a single charge doesn't even get close to filling up 80mAh. My first mod will be to hard-wire a Radioshack Adapta-plug lead into the charging base so I can hook it up to an AC-DC adapter easily, since I don't have many AAA's.
Someone post a few pics of their extra-cell mod!