Another CDM1250 question - Startup channel and power draw

[avascan522]

I recently purchased two used CDM1250's, S-split, and have been going through programming and testing.

I'll start with the programming question: Every time I restart the radio, it reverts back to channel 1, or my first personality channel. I would like it to start-up on the channel I last had selected. I've seen other programming software where this is an option, but I don't see it on the Professional Series CPS. Advice?

Power consumption: It seems that these radios are pretty "thirsty" for voltage. I misplaced my inline power meter, so until a new one comes in the mail I can't read the DC amp draw, but from testing with a multimeter, these CDM's (both) bring down a 12V battery from ~12.7V charged to around 10.7V in standby, not receiving, not transmitting. Is this normal voltage drop? I don't nearly see the same drop from any ham radios I own, or even an XPR 4550. In general, it seems like this type of draw would be a deal-breaker for a vehicular install.

I appreciate any advice or observations you have about what I've described.

 

[K2NEC]

With programing you have no choice. It will always revert back to personality 1 after writing a codeplug by default. You are thinking of on powerup. You can tell the radio to power on the last selected channel.

 

[nokones]

The only thing I see in the CPS insofar as an option to recall, is an option for "Recall Last Selected Menu".

I had a temporary company car for a short period of time in between my permanent company cars that was equipped with a CDM1550 and I don't recall (no pun) if I had that problem but our primary channel was Zone and Channel 1. However, there were times that I had details and had to use other channels but I don't think I had to set the channel every time I shut off the radio and turned it back on. Of course, that was a few decades ago.

 

[PreferredCustomer]

I recently purchased two used CDM1250's, S-split, and have been going through programming and testing.

I'll start with the programming question: Every time I restart the radio, it reverts back to channel 1, or my first personality channel. I would like it to start-up on the channel I last had selected. I've seen other programming software where this is an option, but I don't see it on the Professional Series CPS. Advice?

Power consumption: It seems that these radios are pretty "thirsty" for voltage. I misplaced my inline power meter, so until a new one comes in the mail I can't read the DC amp draw, but from testing with a multimeter, these CDM's (both) bring down a 12V battery from ~12.7V charged to around 10.7V in standby, not receiving, not transmitting. Is this normal voltage drop? I don't nearly see the same drop from any ham radios I own, or even an XPR 4550. In general, it seems like this type of draw would be a deal-breaker for a vehicular install.

I appreciate any advice or observations you have about what I've described.

If your battery voltage is dropping immediately to 10.7, you have a bad cell in your battery.

 

[WA0CBW]

Check all the DC cable connections from the battery to the radio. That includes any fuses and holders. Look for corroded battery and chassis ground connections.
Bill

 

[avascan522]

Thanks for the feedback.
Last comment- DC cables and connections are good, no blown or bad fuses, and the battery is a new-ish 18Ah SLA battery only 2 year old and maintained above 12V its whole life. I've only used it on the bench to test radios temporarily, also while I program.

CPS- Yes, I see "recall last selected menu." I will select that and see if it fixes the problem on startup. That is what I was looking for - if I turn the radio off on 'channel 3', I would like it to turn back on on 'channel 3' after I restart it. Programming re-start isn't the goal.

 

[FKimble]

2 years is about normal for an SLA battery. And 10.x is usually a bad cell.

Frank