Specifications

107
placed in standby or is switched off. If the optional BP8600 is fitted, continuous operation of the lamp
will drain the internal batteries more quickly reducing lifespan between charge cycles.
AUTO
The lamp will automatically illuminate when the keypad or main dial are used. The lamp will remain
illuminated for a further five second after the last key push and will then switch off. This is a good
compromise setting for best visibility and battery life if the optional BP8600 battery is being used.
OFF
This setting is most useful when operating from the optional BP8600 internal battery to reduce power
consumption and increase battery life. The lamp remains permanently extinguished, this is useful when
used in areas of high light levels.
The LAMP is setup in the CONFIG menu. To access the config menu
.  to move the cursor to the “LAMP” selection point. Use the main dial or   keys
to toggle the lamp between AUTO, CONT and OFF. The key may be used as a short cut to
AUTO.
to accept the data and return to a standard display. Alternatively
to abort entry or  to move to the next item on the config menu (CONTRAST).
14-3 CONFIG CONTRAST
The AR8600 is equipped with variable LCD contrast which is adjustable in 32 steps to provide best
visibility under different viewing angles, extremes of ambient light & temperature (and between sets due
to variation).
The default setting for contrast is 14. The display generally becomes too dark to read around 20 and too
feint around 02, the key may be used as a short cut to 14. Best results are usually achieved
within the range of 09 - 15.
The CONTRAST is setup in the CONFIG menu. To access the config menu
.  twice to move the cursor to the “CONTRAST” selection point. Use the
main dial or   keys to vary the contrast level to achieve best visibility.
to accept the data and return to a standard display. Alternatively
to abort entry or  to move to the next item on the config menu (auto power off).
14-4 CONFIG Auto power off
An auto power off facility is available to switch the AR8600 off automatically after a programmable period
of squelch inactivity, this prevents the batteries from becoming flat when monitoring a completely
inactive frequency.
Note: Be careful how you use auto power off as it might catch you out one day
(if a short auto-power-off period has been set), auto power off setting is not cancelled with
power off / on… if the AR8600 appears to switch itself off for no reason, check to make sure
that you haven’t enabled auto power off (there is no associated LCD legend).
Section 14-2, 14-3, 14-4