XTS5000 Program Backlight To Illuminate on Receive

[ASTRO_Man]

Hello,

I’ve looked extensively through CPS R20.01.00 on programming the XTS5000 to illuminate the backlight when receiving a transmission and could not find any possibilities. Is there a possible way to program the radio so this can be accomplished?

Thank you.

 

[kjl13]

Hello,

I’ve looked extensively through CPS R20.01.00 on programming the XTS5000 to illuminate the backlight when receiving a transmission and could not find any possibilities. Is there a possible way to program the radio so this can be accomplished?

Thank you.

I don’t think this is possible.


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[FFPM571]

No it is not... you can assign a button to turn the light on and off and set the setting for infinite That will eat the battery life up.

 

[ME801]

Nope, not even the latest flash for the APX line will allow backlight on channel activity. And the BK's have had that feature since....I don't know the 80's....

 

[Danny37]

Nope, not even the latest flash for the APX line will allow backlight on channel activity. And the BK's have had that feature since....I don't know the 80's....

It's pretty impractical in a public safety setting when you think about it. Vertex radios have this feature and I turned it on once and it cut my battery in half. Luckily I did it a home when I tested it out and my battery that typically lasted well over 12 hours, barely lasted 6 hours.

 

[GTR8000]

It's pretty impractical in a public safety setting when you think about it. Vertex radios have this feature and I turned it on once and it cut my battery in half. Luckily I did it a home when I tested it out and my battery that typically lasted well over 12 hours, barely lasted 6 hours.

Except that the default behavior for an APX with front display is to have the radio's front display backlight set to "permanently illuminate". Yes, it stays lit as long as the radio is powered up (although can be toggled off with a button/soft key). Motorola states: "When this field is enabled, an approximate 20 minute drain in the standard battery life for a normal duty cycle will occur." A penalty of 20 minutes is a far cry from losing 50% of your battery's capacity, as you stated. Surely if the backlight were allowed to cycle on/off with activity, it would further reduce the penalty on runtime. Those APX batteries last quite a long time, so 20 minutes is really not a huge loss in the overall scheme of things.

 

[Danny37]

Except that the default behavior for an APX with front display is to have the radio's front display backlight set to "permanently illuminate". Yes, it stays lit as long as the radio is powered up (although can be toggled off with a button/soft key). Motorola states: "When this field is enabled, an approximate 20 minute drain in the standard battery life for a normal duty cycle will occur." A penalty of 20 minutes is a far cry from losing 50% of your battery's capacity, as you stated. Surely if the backlight were allowed to cycle on/off with activity, it would further reduce the penalty on runtime. Those APX batteries last quite a long time, so 20 minutes is really not a huge loss in the overall scheme of things.

The tech has definitely advanced and improved with the apx series but the xts series (as the op has) a permanent illuminated screen will drain his battery significantly.

 

[ME801]

It's pretty impractical in a public safety setting when you think about it. Vertex radios have this feature and I turned it on once and it cut my battery in half. Luckily I did it a home when I tested it out and my battery that typically lasted well over 12 hours, barely lasted 6 hours.

In the wildland fire world, you have at least 4 frequencies in your scan list (more if your overhead) Command, Div Tac, A2G Pri and Guard. It's a huge help to be able to see the channel they are calling you on when it dark. Sometimes rookies will forget to identify the channel. If your overhead, you have the 4 above plus the Div Tac on either side of you.
I would think it would be a simple programming update to have the option of backlight on channel activity.
Will I ever give up my 8kXE for a brick (DPH), nope.