When do you replace your tranceiver batteries?

I change them at 80%. 

For me, Aaron, batteries are cheap and, while they may have plenty of charge to transmit for a while at 50% or less, searching sucks down a lot more juice and I'd prefer to have a large reserve in the event of an actual burial. 

I'd never heard Ortovox's 10% recommendation, but that seems way, way too low.  Certainly too low for my comfort.  I'll keep propping up the AAA battery industry.

Ortovox recommends 10% in the owner's manual www.avalanche-center.org/store/manuals/ortovox-patroller.pdf . I don't think they would risk the liability if they weren't confident in the safety of doing so.

Ortovox recommends 10% in the owner's manual www.avalanche-center.org/store/manuals/ortovox-patroller.pdf . I don't think they would risk the liability if they weren't confident in the safety of doing so.

Oh, I'm sure you're right. I'm not saying there's a ton of logic in changing them at 80% (especially in light of their recommendations and research), I'm just saying that I'm unlikely to change that habit purely because it's a very cheap way to eliminate beacon-battery failure from the list of things that could be a problem if things go pear-shaped.

And more importantly, it makes me (and my partners) feel better to know we have fresh batteries.

Oh, I'm sure you're right.

LOL. I'm not going to say it..... but I'm very very tempted..... I'm finally maturing. Pat on back to self.

Manufacturers all say to use alkaline cells, even though other types (lithium specifically) perform better in colder temps.  

Always alkalines. Never, ever, ever use lithium or rechargables.

Always get them from a reputable source, Many knock off, imitation Duracell's floating around out there.

LOL. I'm not going to say it..... but I'm very very tempted..... I'm finally maturing. Pat on back to self.

But you did say it by posting this. Obviously you have a ways to go.

www.tetonat.com has this post from
Edge Jan 3rd, 2010 at 6:35 pm
"I love it when people get all geeky about beacons. My kind of people! Anyway, here are a few tidbits from BCA, manufacturers of Tracker avalanche beacons:

• There was indeed a beacon that ran on rechargeable batteries: the Skadi units that went out of style around 1996 when the frequency changed from 2.275 to 457 kHz. Back in the ’80’s and early ’90’s, most beacons were used by professionals who could recharge their beacons overnight, alongside their radios. Since then, the market has evolved and is now about 95 percent recreationists. Since most of us barely ever practice, it’s unlikely we will notice when our power drops off the table like it does with rechargeables. Remember, the stakes are a lot higher with beacons than with radios and cell phones.

• All beacon manufacturers design their transceivers to meet the European standard for battery life: 1 hour in search after 200 hours in transmit. For most digital beacons, 3 AAA batteries is what is required to meet this standard. Adding more batteries requires a larger, heavier beacon.

• Our first year (1997), we suggested that people replace their Tracker DTS batteries when they got below 80 percent. This was extremely conservative. We have since changed our recommendation to 20 percent.

• It is true that you’ll get a little more receive range at low battery power than at full power. But there’s only about a 5 percent difference between the range you get with a Tracker DTS at 100 percent versus the range you get at 10 percent. But you’ll lose 10 percent transmit power at these same battery levels. So you could say it’s a toss-up.

• Lithium batteries have higher voltage than alkaline. This can throw off the battery power measurement, which is calibrated for alkaline. It will also throw off your distance readings and make it very difficult to search. Use alkaline only. And make sure all three batts are of the same brand and shelf life: like a team of mountaineers, all three will perform to the level of the weakest member of the team."