uhf radio vs. car battery - how long to drain it!
Submitted: Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:18
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eligar
howdy ya'll,
How long would it take to drain a big battery by using the
UHF radio beyond it's capacity to restart the car ?
(gme tx3000 radio - diesel ford courier with big battery in good condition)
i would rather find out here than test it out in the bush!
thanks.
Reply By: Member - Fred B (NT) - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:25
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:25
Hi Eligar,
without further info... hard to say. The radio uses a lot less power in standby or just recieving, but heaps more when transmitting. Not knowing your battery rating nor the power consumed by the radio, it's difficult to say. But yes, you will eventually flatten the battery by leaving the radio on. Fully charged battery in good condition may last up to 6 hours with the radio on. BUT, you must realise that this is only a guess......
regards
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: eligar - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:29
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:29
wow - 6hrs only! I understand that it is a estimate only, but i thought it would have lasted longer than that. Here i go again with the dreaed auxillary battery setup for this new vehicle then...
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Follow Up By: Dave(NSW) - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:42
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:42
Fred,
How often are you going to have the UHF on with the motor turned off? I would just wire it up to your accessories so the radio turns off with the key.
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Follow Up By: Stu & "Bob" - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:50
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 14:50
Is that with the PTT down or on standby (receive)?
I would imagine that the battery would last a lot longer than 6 hrs, as the current drawn on receive is minimal. On transmit, depending on the PEP output of the radio, it could be significantly higher.
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Follow Up By: DesF - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 15:51
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 15:51
Hi. Sounds a bit strange to only last 6 hours, we have been bush and left a TX4000 on over night and never noticed any problems in the Subaru, also at home the grandkids left it on in the Pajero for 2 days and it still started OK, Pajero has a 70 amphr battery,
We always have ours wired up live , never had any problems.
Cheers Des.
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (NT) - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 21:12
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 21:12
I've left
mine on for 2 days , no problems,
.
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687936
Reply By: get outmore - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 15:00
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 15:00
I have left my radio on overnight on scan and ts flattened my batterey leading me to think they use more power than you would think
I dont know if vehicle mounted ones go into stanby like handhelds do
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Follow Up By: eligar - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 21:00
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 21:00
leaving it on scan is sure to drain quick.
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Reply By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 16:05
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 16:05
The
GME TX3000 Specs states that maximum current drain will be 1.9A when transmitting. Receiver mode current drain are as follows:
Squelched = 300 mA
Full Volume = 680 mA
Considering it is more than likely squelched (and not used much for transmitting), then it will probably use around 300-400 mAh....over 24hrs around 7-10Ah.
I would imagine a good fully-charged battery would last a couple days no problems. YMMV.
Andrew
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 17:30
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 17:30
Now thats the way to answer that question - and anything less than a couple of days and I would question the battery/charger.
I think where some go wrong is that these days there can be many sub systems that each draw a few milliamps here and there, particularly with after market items and you end up with a constant heavy than expected drain.
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Follow Up By: Member - Andrew (QLD) - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 18:15
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 18:15
Agreed, I also believe that vehicles are not designed to sit for any longer than 1-2 weeks without a good run. Had brand new batteries in a Subaru outback die after coming back from being away on holidays for less than 2 weeks. The small drain from clocks, radios etc adds up in some vehicles to be a real killer and there is no way to stop it short of leaving it on a charger.
Andrew
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Follow Up By: eligar - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 21:02
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 21:02
i agree too, good answer. All this feedback from the
forum thread is so much better than just wondering and speculating for the next fe years. Without doing the science, we are getting a good idea here.
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Follow Up By: Ozhumvee - Monday, May 24, 2010 at 08:23
Monday, May 24, 2010 at 08:23
It is not just small vehicles that suffer from this problem either.
In my last job I drove a late model Hino 34 seater bus, took it home at night and school hols. As with most heavier vehicles it was 24v and I quickly found after having to call the NRMA after the first holiday break (6 weeks over Christmas/New Year), the batteries were down to 5v!
Found there was 120 mA parasitic drain which would flatten the batteries to the point of not starting in a week.
Bought a 24v Ctek and plugged it in from then on, no more problems.
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Reply By: eligar - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 16:15
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 16:15
this is good - great feedback everyone, thanks.
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Reply By: MEMBER - Darian, SA - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 16:50
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 16:50
My Icom 400 Pro uses .3A on standby (up to 1.2A with volume up) - 4A on transmit. It also has an 'Auto Power Off when idle' setting - 2 hours - maybe the GME has such a setting.
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Reply By: ChipPunk - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 18:56
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 18:56
Get a voltmeter.
That's probably the best indication you can get....
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Reply By: D200Dug- Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 19:17
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 19:17
Get some jumper leads and a friends car
Leave the radio on for 24 hours and see if it starts :-)
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Follow Up By: eligar - Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 21:04
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 21:04
yes, that would be the fun way would'nt it!
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Follow Up By: D200Dug- Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 22:15
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 22:15
Manual ?
Just
park on a
hill :-)
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Reply By: Flynnie - Monday, May 24, 2010 at 00:00
Monday, May 24, 2010 at 00:00
Well the question has been answered but I ask, why would you want to use an in car unit in that manner? Who wants to hover around a vehicle that is parked listening to the CB?
If scanning is required while camped I would suggest using a decent hand held with a decent antenna. The GME 6200 is most suitable in this role (as are others) with the optional fast charger base to keep it upright. I have used
mine like this for some years. It can be put on a
table or other flat surface. No worries about discharging vehicle batteries. Easily runs in scan mode overnight. Also is a good backup to main unit.
Flynnie
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Shaver - Monday, May 24, 2010 at 10:13
Monday, May 24, 2010 at 10:13
I left my GME 4400 on for a week in a 200 Series Cruiser before I woke up to it. When I gingerly pressed the Start Button (Petrol & 1 battery)it flew into life as though it had never happened. So there you go, & that's no Bulsh-t !
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