GME TX6200 - Manual (Page 30)

PAGE 30 I N S T R U C T I O N M A N UA L TX6200
BATTERY USAGE
The time taken to discharge the battery
pack will depend on how you use your
TX6200. The 1200 mAh battery pack
is powerful enough for a full days use
under average conditions.
Conserving battery power
The TX6200 has built in power saving
features to help you get the maximum
amount of time between charges from
your Ni-MH battery pack. If you need
to operate your TX6200 in a situation
where you require maximum battery
life (e.g. a remote site where there is no
convenient recharging facility nearby),
the following hints can greatly reduce
the amount of power drawn from the
battery pack.
Sleep mode
The TX6200 will automatically enter
the ‘Sleep’ mode after around 20
seconds of inactivity (i.e. no
transmission or reception).
While sleeping, it will still check for
incoming signals but it will draw only
about one fifth of the power from the
battery. As soon as a signal is received
or any keys are pressed, the TX6200
will wake up again. This sleep function
is automatic and by itself can greatly
extend the battery life in standby mode
by many hours.
Quiet mode
If ‘Quiet’ mode is selected, the TX6200
will remain ‘asleep’ on Quiet channels
even if they are busy unless your Selcall
Ident is received.
Scanning
The TX6200 draws more power from
the battery when scanning than when
monitoring a single channel. This is
because it must wake more often to
monitor each channel for activity. You
can squeeze that extra bit of life from
the battery by avoiding any unnecessary
scanning. In addition, scanning several
channels increases the chance of finding
a signal thereby keeping the receiver
awake and the squelch open more often.
Low transmit power setting
The transmitter has both High and
Low power settings. If you are only
operating over short distances, are in
a reasonably high location or are close
to a local repeater, try using the LOW
transmit power setting. This reduces the
transmitter power from 5 Watts to 1
Watt, effectively tripling the ‘talk’
time available.
General
Continuously monitoring a busy
channel will reduce the battery life since
incoming signals will keep the receiver
awake and the squelch will stay open
for longer periods of time. This will draw
much more power from the battery pack.
If you are expecting to receive a Selcall
on a busy channel, program that channel
for ‘Quiet’ operation and select the Quiet
mode. The TX6200 will then stay ‘asleep’
until your Selcall Ident is received.