Steve Kroop at Flytec <<info>>
writes:

Most 6030 pilots at least know that the instrument runs on two
banks of AA batteries and that to charge the batteries, you plug in either the
wall or vehicle adapter. However a little better understanding does not hurt and
will help reduce the chance of dead batteries at launch or the horrifying
experience dead batteries in flight.

The batteries supplied with the 6030 are NiMH 2100 or 2300 mA and are the ideal
capacity for the built-in chargers. The internal chargers are for NiMH batteries
only and are designed to charge these cells until they are full or for six
hours, whichever comes first. If you use higher capacity cells the internal
charger may not fully charge them depending on their state when you connect the
charger (i.e., the charger may time-out before the cells are full). Also these
cells may get hotter than the 2100/2300s while charging and the thermal overload
protection will suspend charging (blinking LED). It may be possible to use some
of these higher capacity cells by charging them until the LEDs go out, remove
the charging cable, allowing the cells to cool down and then reconnecting the
charging cable until the LEDs go out a second time. You can always use other
chemistry cells but in that case, do not use the internal charger, charge the
batteries externally with an appropriate charger.

When you switch on the 6030 it always starts on bank 1. Once the 6030 is on it
will switch to battery bank 2 when bank 1 is depleted. However, if bank 1 is too
weak to start, the 6030 it will not be able to turn on to auto-switch to bank 2.
If you are at launch and see that bank 1 is dead, try moving batteries from bank
2 into bank 1. Since bank 2 is seldom used it is very likely that these cells
are sufficient for a long flight. Because, bank 1 is the primary and is always
used and bank 2 is rarely used, it is recommended that you periodically swap the
cells between the two banks. If both banks are dead at launch, you can always
put in two one-time use batteries into bank 1, Just don't forget they are in
there and later try and use the internal charger.

I have seen pilots use Eveready E2 single use batteries because they last so
long (I am told they will go for two full comps). The downside of these is that
because of their voltage profile there is a good chance that the 6030 will not
auto switch to the second bank when they are finally depleted. If you use these,
you will need to monitor the 6030 battery life indicator and learn when to
replace them.

The 6030 has three battery settings in the instrument setup menu, alkaline, NiMH
and Golden Power. The purpose of these settings is calibrate the battery life
meter with the voltage profile of the cell type. The Golden Power setting is
idealized for voltage profile of the original supplied cells. If you replace the
original cells with a different manufacture's NiMH cells you can experiment with
either the NiMH or Golden Power settings to see which gives the most accurate
battery meter reading. When you reinitialize the EEPROM the battery type in the
setup menu reverts to alkaline and if you are using NiMH cells the battery meter
will read low so make sure you select the correct battery type after
reinitializing the 6030.