Watch the Amps

Some modern plotters are so power hungry that their backs are designed to dissipate heat. While this offers the useful option of using them as toasters if the global GPS signal should fail, it also means we flatten our batteries in short order if we give them their heads. This situation can be eased by searching the system for all available means of saving power. These might include turning the backlight well down when the screen is not in direct use, and keeping an associated radar scanner turned off when you aren’t looking at the radar display. Some radars default to ‘standby’ and are therefore secretly guzzling amps when we might prefer them ‘off’.