Current Draw by Mode
Edit on GitHubReference table of the beacon's current draw in each mode and state, measured at 3.7 V.
Current Draw by Mode
A reference table of what the beacon actually consumes in each operating state. Numbers are measured at 3.7 V on the standard build and vary by a few milliamps across boards.
State table
| State | Current (mA) | Dominant consumer |
|---|---|---|
| Deep sleep | 0.02 - 0.15 | RTC, regulators |
| CONFIG, idle | 22 - 30 | ESP32, OLED |
| CONFIG + OLED refresh | 28 - 35 | OLED writes |
| BEACON, pre-TX | 25 - 35 | ESP32, GPS |
| BEACON, TX burst | 110 - 140 | SX1262 PA |
| SEARCH, sweeping | 35 - 50 | Radio RX |
| GPS acquiring | 65 - 95 | GPS module |
| GPS tracking | 30 - 45 | GPS module |
| WiFi (CONFIG portal) | 90 - 160 | ESP32 radio stack |
Reading the table
- Sleep plus GPS-off is the beaconing baseline: everything else is added on top.
- The TX burst at 120 mA for 2 seconds per 10-second cycle adds an average of 24 mA.
- GPS always-on adds a flat 30 mA that never sleeps, which is why it dominates multi-day runtime.
How to use it
Pick your mission profile and add the averages (worked example on Battery Capacity Math). The difference between “GPS on, 10 s interval” and “GPS off, 60 s interval” is roughly a 4x runtime change, which is why the settings exist.
Measuring your own board
Clone boards differ (see Board Variants and Clones). Run the Power Measurement procedure once per board you own; the table above is the reference, your board’s numbers are the truth.
Related pages
- Power Measurement for the procedure
- Power Budget and Runtimes for the runtime table
- Firmware Deep Sleep for the sleep state