SDS100/SDS200: Battery saving tips for sds100

[Whospoonbill]

Hey does anybody know I can get make my battery last longer on the sds100 I just got another battery with the battery charger yesterday. But the first battery that came with the scanner I haven’t timed it but it seems to go dead faster I had the keypad light on, 60% brightness, battery save on, screen off with squelch and 15 seconds with keypress, and white with black text, and I had the battery voltage set to 3200 know I have color mode on with simple detail, 3200 battery voltage, screen off with squelch and 15 seconds with keypress, battery save is always on with any settings I put. What im worried about to is that I reseted everything on it and reprogrammed it and put everything back on it from a previous save. And it used to go down to 3.2 when the low battery alert comes on I haven’t checked it but I feels like it does at 3500 voltages and it sets to 3200 volts. I don’t know if it was a corrupted reprogramming that’s causing it or if I just been overcharging it to much or charging it to much in general i keep documenting whenever I charge the batteries and this battery is only been through 15 charges. Anyways can I get some battery saving tips

 

[nessnet]

Just remember....
Batteries have a lifespan - they degrade over time.

How old is the battery?

 

[Whospoonbill]

A month old I got it in December it came with the sds100 and that’s means the sds100 is new to its only been through 15 charges I document ever charge

 

[Reconrider]

Batteries will last as long as they can. Use it and abuse it, then buy a new one from Amazon for 50 bucks

 

[Ubbe]

The battery save mode are only in use while you are stationary on a conventional channel for more than 30 seconds without any activity from that channel. It's a very small save that will hardly be noticed on the battery time.

The battery setting are only for the alert beeps, how early you want the warning to sound until it dies. You should check battery time when the scanner stops working and dies.

You can always use an external power bank connected to the micro USB connector, to avoid charging the internal battery. Unidens batteries seems to be of poor quality and then probably also have differencies between them regarding their life time.

/Ubbe

 

[pro106import]

I took several current draw readings under different conditions a year or so ago. I put them up somewhere in this SDS100 forum. Anyway, bottom line was I found the display backlight, being on or off or in between only drew a few extra milliamps. Wouldn't even make much difference on the battery usage time.

 

[Computrguy]

Maybe the OP is chasing their tail on this. There is no mention how long the scanner is actually lasting on a charge. It is documented on here a number of times that the SDS100 using a lot of juice and the battery only lasts 8 hours at most. That is why after the launch of it they upgraded everyone to the larger battery. The time will also be affected by the amount of time the scanner is stopped on a channel and the speaker being active and volume.
I've had mine a few years now and usually get 6-8 hours of use when on battery power alone. I tend to use it plugged into a usb source so I have a full battery if out and about without a usb source.

 

[Whospoonbill]

I meant to put this on this form not the other one but the sds100 does go down to 3.2 volts if you set it in the voltage menu before it dies

 

[hulka]

Could be the battery is just starting to fail.