Getting The Most From Your Batteries - Yaesu FT-23R MKII Operating Manual

Getting the Most from Your Batteries

How long the batteries last between charges or replacement depends largely on your oper-
ating habits, and how you care for the battery pack (if using a Ni-Cd pack).
The FT-23R
offers a variety of ways to conserve battery power, and thus to extend the
MK ‡U
life of each charge. Knowing how to use these features can be critical in emergencies.
Obviously, turning the set off when not in use saves battery life, and can also prevent
damage that might result to the batteries if they are over-discharged.
Keeping the receiver squelched automatically activates the power saver function, requir-
ing only about 15% of the power needed when listening to a signal or noise. So when
listening for a call, choose a quiet frequency and close the squelch on background noise.
The FTS-12 Tone Squelch option is useful for creating your own quiet channel if the
entire band is crowded. Also, use the lowest possible volume setting when listening to
signals. In noisy environments, use an earphone so you can keep the volume low.
Keeping the LOW power switch on the top panel depressed requires about 60% less cur-
rent when transmitting, so it is a good idea to develop the habit of always keeping this
switch depressed, switching to high power only if low power fails to get through. If you
live in a location where high power is almost always needed, consider replacing the an-
tenna with a higher gain type instead of opting for high power (the result on transmissions
is the same). Make sure that any external antenna is designed for 50-ohms impedance at
the operating frequency.
As the battery discharges, the voltage drop when transmitting will increase. When battery
voltage drops to around 6.5V, the beeper will begin to sound continuously, indicating that
the batteries should be replaced or recharged as soon as possible.
If using rechargeable batteries, do not keep operating once the beeper has come on, as this
could cause over-discharge of the cells and destroy the pack. However, recharging Ni-Cd
batteries often, with little use in between charges, can also shorten the useful life of the
cells. Therefore the best way to get the most out of your Ni-Cds is to use the battery pack
just until the beeper comes on, and then immediately give the pack a full recharge. Unfor-
tunately this is not always convenient, since it can be hard to tell exactly when the charge
will run out. One solution to this problem is to carry an extra, fully charged pack with you
if you do not wish to have operation interrupted.
20 FT-23R O M
PERATING ANUAL
MKII