WS1080: noob:Help with screen backlight settings

[Juliet-10]

I recently bought a 1080 and have done all the software,firemware,library updates. My screen LCD keeps turning off way to quickly, which is driving me nuts. As I can't see anything after the backlight goes out. I went back to defaults and was the same. I've changed the proper settings as far as I can tell from reading the manual and other references. I want it to stay lit for 7-8 secs once I touch a key or a freq breaks sql while scanning. I changed the backlight setting for batt to 'key' and changing the delay from '5' (default) to 7 & then 9. This doesn't seem to make any difference. I do go to 'save settings' before exiting this menu. I also turned on the 'lit when unmuted', which I assume the backlight comes on when a channel is found.
What is the difference between 'Norm' and 'Key'? Probably the best assistance anyone could give me is what are the settings you use when running only on batts and when hooked to power.
I can't wait until I get past the high learning curve of all these settings and programming!

Thanks,
J.C.

 

[troymail]

For the most part, backlighting is different when it comes to a channel being active vs. user interaction (key presses).

First - when set to KEY PRESS, the radio will stay lit for "Timeout (Sec)" length of time. I like to keep my setting here at 30 seconds. When I press any button on the radio, it remains lit for 30 seconds after the last button press.

As for active channel backlighting, there are a couple of options.

If you check the global setting "On When UnMuted" box in the Backlight Settings box of the "General Settings" tab, all active channels/talkgroups will cause the display to light and stay lit as long as any channel/talkgroup is active.

If "On When UnMuted" is not checked, in order to make the backlight come on, you need to set the "Bklt/LED" on each object to "On" or "Flash". I expected the backlighting would stay on for the "Timeout" number of seconds above but it appears that the backlight duration is the same as if "On When UnMuted" is checked - the only difference being here is that you select specific talkgroups to backlight (vs. globally all).

If I am not mistaken, the backlighting duration was controlled by the Timeout duration before "On When UnMuted" was added as a feature. That is, it appears that user control of the duration of backlighting was lost (maybe) when the unmute feature was added (I could be wrong).

At this point, while on batteries, I tend to stick to Key/30 seconds and global "On When UnMuted" to help preserve battery life. I use lit always when on external power.

Like most features, it is best to just try different things until you find what you like.

 

[K9DAK]

I do go to 'save settings' before exiting this menu.

And make sure you Copy Configuration to Scanner Memory/SD card...