Elecraft K2 Owner's Manual - Manual (Page 105)

104
E
LECRAFT ®
Reducing Current Drain for Portable Operation
You can use any of the methods listed below to reduce receive-mode
current drain and thus extend battery life. These techniques will have
only a small effect on transmit current drain, however. Reduce power
output to the lowest effective level if you're transmitting frequently on
a weak battery.
 Use headphones or reduce speaker volume.
 Turn off the RF preamp.
 Set GRPH to DOT mode. There's also an OFF mode, which
completely disables the S-meter and forces DOT mode for
transmit power display.
 Set OPT (Optimization) to BATT (battery); this reduces the I.F.
post-mixer amplifier current by about 40 mA and automatically
forces the bargraph to use DOT mode if set for BAR. Receive
performance is minimally affected by this setting unless you have
very strong in-band stations nearby.
 Set LCD to DAY to turn off the LCD backlight. This is most
effective if you also set GRPH to OFF, since each bargraph
LED segment that is turned on in DAY mode uses about 18 mA.
(Each segment uses only 6 mA in NITE mode.)
Note: Voltage/current display mode can be used to verify the effect of
each setting.
Using a Separate Receive Antenna
The 160 m/RXANT option (K160RX) provides a separate receive
antenna which can be enabled on a pre-band basis.
To enable the receive antenna: Switch to the desired band. Use the
menu to change the RANT option to ON. The preamp and attenuator
settings with RANT ON can be set independently from of their
normal settings. If you switch between the normal and receive
antennas often, you can program
P F 1
or
P F 2
as RANT, and it will
switch immediately (one switch press).
Programmable Function Switches (PF1/PF2)
The
P F 1
and
P F 2
switches (below
R I T
and
X I T
, respectively) can be
programmed as direct edit shortcuts to any two menu entries of your
choice, including secondary menu entries (see page 107). Two special
functions can also be assigned to
P F 1
or
P F 2
: Fast Play (FPon,
page 107) and SCAN RESUME (SCAN, page 103).
To program
P F 1
or
P F 2 : Enter the menu and scroll to P F 1 or PF 2 ,
then change the parameter to the desired entry. Exit the menu.
To use
P F 1
or
P F 2
: HOLD one of these switches to activate the
selected menu shortcut, then change the menu parameter (which will
be underlined) using the VFO knob or
B A N D +
/
B AN D -
. To return to
normal operation, tap any switch or the keyer paddle. Exceptions: the
F P o n
, SCAN and RANT functions take effect immediately.
Using
P F 1 or P F 2 as secondary menu shortcuts: Enter the menu
and scroll to PF1 or PF2. To switch to the secondary menu entries,
tap
D I S P L A Y
. (Tapping
D I S P L AY
again will return to the primary
menu entries.) Select the desired parameter, then exit the menu.
AGC On/Off Control
Some operators prefer to turn AGC off and use manual RF GAIN
control under certain weak-signal conditions.
To turn off AGC: Hold both the
P R E / AT T
and
AG C
switches
simultaneously. Release the switches when you see OFF flashed on
the LCD. To remind you that AGC is off, the decimal point to the left
of the mode indicator will flash slowly. Received signals will no
longer affect the S-meter level. Turning the RF GAIN control counter-
clockwise will increase the S-meter reading.