[TrunkCom] 250d power requirements tests

[Sly & Debbie]

With all the hoopla about the battery/charging and such I thought I'd do 
some tests on the radio and pack to see what the radio and pack is 
drawing from the wall wart and what the radio draws form the pack. I 
used a Fluke 77 DVM and various jumpers when needed.

1)For the first test I disconnected the battery from the radio and see 
what the radio is drawing by itself from the wall wart (a 500ma 12vt 
supply). This is with the digital card installed and enabled in the menu.
A) Radio draws 199ma squelched, no signal present, tuned to a blank 
(000.0000) channel, no backlight.
B) Interestingly radio draws slightly less, around 192ma when tuned to 
an actual freq, squelched, no signal present.
C) Radio with signal present (such as NOAA) and med volume (2 o'clock 
position) runs around 200-210ma.
D) Radio with signal present Full Volume (NOAA) around 260ma and 340ma 
tuned to a moto data channel full volume
E) Backlight adds an additional 24ma (med) and 53ma (high)
F) Another interesting observation is the radio draws 12ma from the wall 
wart when turned off and no bat pack inserted.  (also see 4c)

2)Next I removed the digital card to see if it (the card) draws any 
additional power.
A) Yes it does, power requirements went down. The digital card draws an 
extra 75ma just being in the radio and enabled (with radio on). 
Regardless if digital is being received or not.
B) Next I re-inserted the card and merely disabled it thru the menu so 
see what that did. Power requirements stayed down as if the card was not 
inserted.
So in a nutshell if you want the longer battery life and you don't need 
digital capabilities at the moment then disable the card thru the menu.

3)Next I wanted to see what the power requirements were with a dead 
battery inserted in the radio both on and off.
A) With radio off it draws 178ma with a dead battery inserted.
B) With radio on, it draws 360ma with no signal present and digital card on.
C) I did not test it in addtion with volume at full level. I figured one 
could extrapolate this from this test and the first tests above.
Anyway I see the need for the 500ma wall wart.

4)Next I wanted to see what the radio draws from the bat pack alone-no 
ext power and with the digital card on.
This test may not be very accurate as to the "jerry rigging" of 
connectors and jumpers needed. But it should be close enough to get an idea.
A) Radio (turned on) draws approx 200ma from the pack, no signal 
present, digital card enabled.
B) With the digital card turned off it draws 120-130ma. So about a 75mah 
savings with the card off.
C) Regarding (1f) no power is drawn from the bat pack when off.  So 
apparently just when its hooked to the wall wart.

5)Last test I wanted to know what amount of ma is the pack drawing from 
the radio while charging.
This test may not be very accurate as to the "jerry rigging" of 
connectors and jumpers needed. But it should be close enough to get an idea.
A) For a dead pack in the radio, radio off, it draws 130ma from the 
radio. If you'll see the test above (3a) the radio draws 178ma from the 
wall wart with the radio off and a dead pack inserted. Not sure where 
the extra juice is going
B) I have not tested (yet) to see what the ma drops to after the pack 
has had significant time to charge. But will prob later.

hope this has been of value,
Sly N5GQB