Power Hero instructions

From Hobbyist Software

Power Hero Documentation

Power Hero helps you to get the best out of your Battery!

Installation

Just click here then hotsync!

If you have any problems with installation or hotsync, then there is extensive help

Registration

Please purchase a registration code here. This will entitle you to a year of free upgrades (only applies to this site, and others that send me your details)

Once you have purchased, simply click on the register button and enter your registration code.

If you have problems with the code, there is extensive help

Main Screen

	Status line
	The status line at the top shows configurable status information and various messages when Signal Saver and Drain Saver are active. Go to the Main menu and select Display Preferences to choose what is displayed. Tip: You can also tap the status area to launch the Display Preferences dialog.
	Power Saver button
	Tap to configure the power saving options. This is the main dialog for Power Hero options.
	Scheduling button
	Tap to setup schedules to control the state of power items.
	Usage Info button
	Tap to view a history of your device's power usage over the past 30 days.
	Graph
	Real-time usage display. As you change the status of different items, you can see in real-time how that affects the power usage. The graph takes only a couple of seconds to show the effect. A red line indicates that the battery is draining, a green line indicates that it is charging. A vertical grey bar indicates your Treo/Centro was asleep and no measurements were taken for an unspecified period. Tap on the graph for the Detailed Graph page.
	Phone button
	Tap to turn the phone connection on and off. This is what controls the ability to make/receive calls.
	Network button
	Tap to turn the network data connection on and off. If the phone and network connections are both off and the Network button is tapped, Power Hero turns the phone connection on first.
	Bluetooth button
	Tap to turn Bluetooth on and off.
	Infrared button
	Tap to turn infrared "Beam Receive" (Palm Preferences dialog -> Power) on and off.
	Screen slider
	Adjust the screen brightness.

	The phone connection and screen brightness are normally the two biggest battery drains. You need to be able to receive calls, but you can probably turn down the screen brightness without any problems!

Display Preferences

Select the information shown at the top of the Main Screen.

Battery estimates: Shows estimated time to a full charge if your Treo/Centro is plugged in, or estimated time to complete discharge if it isn't.
Charge/Discharge rate: Shows the current battery charge or discharge (the current value in the graph).
Next schedule: Shows the next scheduled item (if you have set actions with the scheduling feature)

Detailed Graph

This shows the same info as the small graph in the Main Screen, with the addition of the current battery voltage and capacity.

Power Saver

Auto Off

	Network off after X minutes
	Turn the network connection off X minutes after the screen turns off*. This is useful for applications that automatically turn the network connection on but do not turn it off.
	Bluetooth off after X minutes
	Turn Bluetooth off X minutes after the screen turns off*. It is recommended to keep the "Do not turn off if paired" feature selected (default) on the Bluetooth tab.
	Infrared off after X minutes
	Turn infrared "Beam Receive" off X minutes after the screen turns off*.

	* When the screen turns off your Treo or Centro goes to into REM sleep or sleep ("sleep" is the deepest sleep which I simply refer to as "sleep"). This is what triggers the auto-off timers. The auto-off events will be postponed if they are triggered while on a phone call (assuming you have a 3rd party application that turns the screen off while on a phone call). Some applications, like MP3 players, can operate with the screen off. The auto-off events will not be postponed in these cases.

Keylights

	Toggle keylights with side key
	Turn the keyboard lights on and off with the side key. Using the side key to toggle the keylights is the same as using the Keyboard button on the Main Screen of Power Hero.
	Tri-state with auto-off
	When checked the side key will cycle through 3 states: Off -> On (auto-off disabled) -> On (auto-off enabled).
	Keylights off after X seconds
	Keep the keylights off until you start typing. Once the keylights are on, Power Hero turns the keylights off automatically after the specified number of seconds of no key presses. This option is active only when the Keyboard power item is on as controlled by Power Hero. You can control the on/off state of the keylights via the Main Screen of Power Hero, a schedule, or one of the Power Hero keyboard utilities (see the free downloads at the Hobbyist Software website http://hobbyistsoftware.com/downloads.php).
	Do not trigger keylights with
	By default all buttons and keys turn the keylights on. You may choose to omit the side key, volume keys, 5-way navigation buttons, and hard keys (the 4 application buttons and green button, if applicable) from turning the keylights on.

Bluetooth

	Turn on when call received
	Turn Bluetooth on when a call is received.
	Turn on when call dialed
	Turn Bluetooth on when a call is dialed.
	Turn on when plugged in
	Turn Bluetooth on when your Treo or Centro is plugged in.
	Do not turn off if paired
	Do not turn Bluetooth off if your Treo or Centro is paired with another device and a scheduled Bluetooth Off comes due or a Bluetooth Auto-Off happens after the screen turns off. Power Hero will then check every 5 minutes to see if your Treo or Centro is still paired with the other device. When a Bluetooth connection no longer exists, Power Hero will turn Bluetooth off at that time.

	Control of Bluetooth on the Treo 650 interferes with incoming phone calls. This is a known issue with the Bluetooth software on the Treo 650. I left the Bluetooth options available for Treo 650 users who would like to experiment with these options. If you are using a Bluetooth headset, Power Hero gives you the ultimate power savings by turning Bluetooth on automatically when a call comes in or when you make a call. Automatic pairing between your Treo/Centro and your headset depends on your Treo/Centro and headset models. Some combinations will pair flawlessly and some combinations require you to initiate the pairing process.

Signal Saver

	Turn phone off if no signal/0 bars/1 bar for X minutes
	Turn the phone connection off if there is no signal, a signal of 0 bars, or a signal of 1 bar for the specified number of minutes. Valid values are 1 - 999 minutes.
	Check signal
	Select how often Power Hero turns the phone connection on to check for a good signal. If "Never" is selected the phone connection will remain off until you turn it back on.
	Attempt
	Select how many times Power Hero checks for a good signal. The process of checking for a good signal involves turning the phone connection on for one minute. If a good signal is not found after the minute elapses Power Hero will turn the phone connection off again.
	Turn phone on/off quietly
	Select to have Signal Saver turn the phone connection on and off quietly.
	Configure Alerts button
	Tap this button to configure the three possible alerts Signal Saver can show; Triggered, Good signal found, and Done checking.

	Your phone automatically manages the amount of power it uses to stay in contact with the network. However, this means that when you are in a weak/no signal area the phone boosts its transmission power to find a connection. This can rapidly drain your battery. The Signal Saver solution is to let Power Hero turn your phone connection off when there is a persistent weak/no signal connection and turn it on periodically to check for a better connection.

Drain Saver - The Glen Phenomenon

	Do nothing if drain rate is X mA for Y minutes
	Log event...
	Turn phone off/on...
	Reset device...
	This feature is only intended for those who are very familiar with their Treo/Centro workings. Select the action to be performed when the specified drain rate is detected for the specified number of minutes. Some Treo and Centro users (particularly Treo 680 and Centro) have noticed periods of very high drain in certain circumstances. This has been named "The Glen Phenomenon". It isn't entirely clear how or why it happens, but it seems the problem occurs after phone calls. Theories are the phone gets stuck in a high transmission power or the CPU gets stuck in a high power mode. Turning the phone off then on again seems to clear the problem.
	Enable in REM sleep
	Enable Drain Saver in REM sleep in addition to sleep mode. If this option is not selected Drain Saver will only watch for the drain rate you specify while in sleep mode (which is the deeper sleep mode of the two). If you run applications that operate in the background with the screen off you should not enable this option.
	Do nothing if battery drops below X %
	Log event...
	Turn off all items except phone...
	Turn off all power items...
	Select the action to be performed when the battery percentage drops below the specified value.
	Configure Alerts button
	Tap this button to configure the two possible alerts Drain Saver can show; Triggered and Battery percent.

Misc

	Replace the brightness dialog (Option+P) with the Power Hero Console
	Pressing the option key and then the P key normally brings up the built-in screen brightness dialog. With this option enabled it brings up the Power Hero Console over the current application.
	Log drain rate every 5 minutes
	Log your Treo or Centro's drain rate every 5 minutes while unplugged. This is useful for diagnosing causes of high drain rates.

Schedule

Easily schedule when features turn themselves on and off.

You can control all the power-draining features on your Treo and set up schedules as simple or as complex as you like.

Usage Info

Provides statistics on your usage and battery life

Summary

	Remaining Battery Time / Time to Full Charge
	Estimates for remaining battery life or time to full charge. The remaining battery time is based on your daily statistics for the past 5 days.
	Unplugged / Plugged In
	How long ago you unplugged and plugged in your Treo or Centro.

Daily Statistics

	Power Hero keeps a record of your daily usage for the past 30 days. Usage is divided into the following categories: Unplugged - The total time and average drain rate while your Treo was unplugged from midnight to midnight. Awake - Time and average drain rate while unplugged and awake. The awake state consumes the most power and therefore will have the highest mA value. REM Sleep - Time and average drain rate while unplugged and in Rem Sleep. Rem Sleep is an intermediate state, with the screen off, between awake and sleep. Normally your Treo spends very little time in ths state although some programs, such as MP3 players, run in this state to conserve power. Sleep - Time and average drain rate while unplugged and asleep. The sleep state consumes the least amount of power and therefore should have the lowest mA value.
	Power Hero Rating - How long your battery would last, in days, if you started with a full battery and ran with the current day's Unplugged drain rate. The "Power Hero Rating" gives you a single, simple statistic to help you judge how your battery is lasting on a day by day basis.

Console

Pressing the option key and then the P key normally brings up the built-in screen brightness dialog. Enabling the Power Hero console option on the Misc tab replaces the brightness dialog.

Alerts

	Triggered
	Shown when Signal Saver is triggered.
	Good signal found
	Shown when a good signal is found.
	Done checking
	Shown when Signal Saver is done checking for a good signal. The phone connection will be off at this point and will not turn on again until you turn it on manually or a Power Hero "Phone on" schedule turns it on.

	Triggered
	Shown when Drain Saver is triggered.
	Battery percent
	Shown when the battery drops below the percentage specified on the Drain Saver page.

Shortcuts

A series of free 'Shortcut Applications' are available for you to easily control the power-using features on your Treo/Centro directly from your launcher. These are tiny applications that will do a simple job such as turning a feature on, off or toggling its state.

Bluetooth off, Bluetooth on, Toggle Bluetooth
Infrared off, Infrared on, Toggle Infrared
Keylights off, Keylights on, Toggle keylights
Network connection off, Network connection on, Toggle network connection
Phone connection off, Phone connection on, Toggle phone connection

These shortcuts work brilliantly with Butler's KeyLauncher. By assigning them to a favourite key in your Phone application and enabling Butler's KeyLauncher, you can simply press and hold the key of your choice to do any of these tasks. e.g. press and hold the 'B' key to toggle Bluetooth on or off.

Download shortcuts here

Tips

Tips on advanced usage are here

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