ELECRAFT 97
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 G R P H to D O T mode. There's also an O F F mode, which
completely disables the S-meter and forces D O T mode for
transmit power display.
Set O P T (Optimization) to B A T T (battery); this reduces the
I.F. post-mixer amplifier current by about 40 mA and
automatically forces the bargraph to use D O T mode if set for
B A R . Receive performance is minimally affected by this
setting unless you have very strong in-band stations nearby.
Set L C D to D A Y to turn off the L C D backlight. This is most
effective if you also set G R P H to O F F , since each bargraph
LED segment that is turned on in D A Y mode uses about 18
mA. (Each segment uses only 6 mA in N I T E 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
receiving antenna. This capability is included with the 160–m
option because such an antenna is frequently used on 160 meters.
However, the receive antenna switch can be used on any band.
To enable the receive antenna: Switch to the desired band.
Next, use the menu to change the R A N T option to O N . This will
affect only the current band. If you anticipate switching between
the normal and receive antennas often, you can program
P F 1 or
P F 2 as R A N T .
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 100). Two
special functions can also be assigned to
P F 1 or P F 2 : Fast Play
(F P o n , page 100) and SCAN RESUME (S C A N , page 96).
To program
P F 1 or P F 2 : Enter the menu and scroll to P F 1 or
P F 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 A N D - . To
return to normal operation, tap any switch or the keyer paddle.
Exceptions: the F P o n and S C A N functions take effect
immediately.
Using
P F 1 or P F 2 as secondary menu shortcuts: Enter the
menu and scroll to P F 1 or P F 2 . To switch to the secondary menu
entries, tap
D I S P L A Y . (Tapping D I S P L A Y 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 / A T T and A G C switches
simultaneously. Release the switches when you see O F F 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.
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