Operation Manual

VX-8R OPERATING MANUAL 125
RECEIVE BATTERY SAVER SETUP
An important feature of the VX-8R is its Receive Battery Saver, which “puts the radio to
sleep” for a time interval, periodically “waking it up” to check for activity. If somebody is
talking on the channel, the VX-8R will remain in the “active” mode, then resume its
“sleep” cycles. This feature significantly reduces quiescent battery drain, and you may
change the amount of “sleep” time between activity checks using the Menu System:
1. Press and hold the key for one second to enter the Set Mode.
2. Rotate the DIAL knob to select Set Mode Item
79: SAVE RX79: SAVE RX
79: SAVE RX79: SAVE RX
79: SAVE RX.
3. Press the key briefly to enable adjustment of this Set
Mode Item.
4. Rotate the DIAL knob to select the desired “sleep” dura-
tion. The selections available are
0.2sec0.2sec
0.2sec0.2sec
0.2sec -
0.9sec0.9sec
0.9sec0.9sec
0.9sec (0.1sec/
step),
1.0sec1.0sec
1.0sec1.0sec
1.0sec -
9.5sec9.5sec
9.5sec9.5sec
9.5sec (0.5sec/step),
10.0sec10.0sec
10.0sec10.0sec
10.0sec -
60.0sec60.0sec
60.0sec60.0sec
60.0sec
(5sec/step), or
OFFOFF
OFFOFF
OFF. The default value is
0.2sec0.2sec
0.2sec0.2sec
0.2sec.
5. When you have made your selection, press the PTT switch
to save the new setting and exit to normal operation.
When you are operating on Packet, switch the Receive Battery Saver OFF, as
the sleep cycle may “collide” with the beginning of an incoming Packet trans-
mission, causing your TNC not to receive the full data burst.
TX BATTERY SAVER
The VX-8R also includes a useful Transmit Battery Saver, which will automatically lower
the power output level when the last signal received was very strong. For example, when
you are in the immediate vicinity of a repeater station, there generally is no reason to use
the full 5 Watts of power output in order to achieve full-quieting access to the repeater.
With the Transmit Battery Saver, the automatic selection of Low Power operation con-
serves battery drain significantly.
To activate the Transmit Battery Saver:
1. Press and hold the key for one second to enter the Set Mode.
2. Rotate the DIAL knob to select Set Mode Item
80: SAVE TX80: SAVE TX
80: SAVE TX80: SAVE TX
80: SAVE TX.
3. Press the key briefly to enable adjustment of this Set
Mode Item.
4. Rotate the DIAL knob to set this Set Mode Item to “
ONON
ONON
ON”
(thus activating the Transmit Battery Saver).
5. When you have completed your selection, press the PTT
switch to save the new setting and exit to normal operation.
To disable the Transmit Battery Saver, just repeat the above pro-
cedure, rotating the DIAL knob to select “
OFFOFF
OFFOFF
OFF” in step 4 above.
MISCELLANEOUS SETTING