So the battery on my digital pentax spot meter died yesterday.

I really only use it on the weekends, I've only had the meter for about a year, and the battery already died. Is this a normal expected lifespan?

I guess there is no way to check the status of the battery (without a battery checker, heh!) So I guess I'm just going to throw a few extra batteries into my little tool kit for the future. I didn't do this before because I was expecting the battery to last a very long time (since it gets used very little, only on the weekends, and probably only for about a total of 1 minute throughout each the trip!).

Does this meter drain the battery when it's not in use? or does it only drain when the trigger is pulled?

Just curious