13
votes
How do I separate dovetailed PowerPole housings?
Firstly, there's a hole for a locking pin in the connectors. The pin prevents the connectors from sliding apart. If there's a pin in there, you'll need to push it out with a punch.
If there isn't a ...
- 50.8k
10
votes
Accepted
Understanding power supply requirements
A 50W transmitter is one that can create 50 watts of RF output. The RF amplifier is never 100% efficient, so the input power requirements will always be higher than the output power.
Furthermore, the ...
- 50.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Should I ground my radio to the chassis or battery for a mobile install?
There are two reasons for the advice to run direct to the battery:
Minimize the area enclosed by the power connections. This reduces both interference picked up by the wiring, and inductance (which ...
- 23.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to power your ham radio station by solar power? If so, how?
The answer is a resounding yes.
How you do it depends on whether you are mobile (like in an RV) or stationary.
Here is a video answer from David Casler, KE0OG, the ...
- 2,051
7
votes
Coax braid acting as power supply ground between radio and amplifier connected to the same supply, is this a problem?
If I understand the description correctly:
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab
If that's all it is, I wouldn't say it's any big deal. Whenever you have multiple paths to ...
- 50.8k
7
votes
Are there any cons of running shack on battery?
I don't mean to talk you out of the idea, but I suspect the advantages are not nearly so great as you imagine.
Cheaper than a dedicated RF-grade power supply (USD30 for 40 Ah car battery)
I don't ...
- 50.8k
6
votes
Accepted
DC connector type for Baofeng UV5R base charger
The plug used in the Baofeng base is a 5.5 mm/2.1 mm barrel connector.
However, you cannot simply parallel a bunch of base charger units and power them off of a single AC or DC adapter without ...
- 18.3k
6
votes
Accepted
Practical differences between switching and linear power supplies?
The only reason to use a linear power supply is to reduce electrical noise (or if as an exercise in electronics you want to build your own power supply without using integrated circuits, or if you ...
- 23.7k
6
votes
On Anderson Powerpoles, does the red on go on the left or right?
From http://rallynotes.com/2017/03/12v-anderson-powerpoles/:
This is a good image for orientation reference.
- 61
6
votes
Need batteries for backpack operation
I used LiFePO4 (read: Lithium Iron Phosphate) for my dad's FT-891. The big advantages of LiFePo4 are:
Very power dense, almost as much as Li-Ion, IIRC twice as much Wh/kg than Lead-acid
Extremely ...
- 1,179
5
votes
Are there any cons of running shack on battery?
Possibly an issue with your HF CB rig is that the output power will be lower at 12.1 than at 13.8 or 14.0 volts.
I've seen on 100 watt ham rigs that the final amplifier runs directly from the DC ...
- 9,599
4
votes
why do some radios have two fuses in the power leads
According to Alan K0BG's page about wiring, the negative lead is fused because of the possibility of a faulty ground elsewhere in the vehicle, which could cause excessive current to flow in the ...
- 8,982
4
votes
Accepted
Connecting radio in parallel with inverter in mobile set up
There are two things I like to highlight:
1) You are thinking of putting the radio in the same glove box as the inverter; hence you may need extra ventilation/circulation to ensure neither equipment ...
- 2,107
4
votes
Power supply for shortwave portables
I wouldn't risk directly connecting a 9.6v battery to a radio that expects 5-6v.
The simplest solution would probably be the diodes mentioned in the comment to your question, but as the battery ...
- 726
4
votes
Coax braid acting as power supply ground between radio and amplifier connected to the same supply, is this a problem?
An anecdote: I had problems with my station which included computer-radio interconnections; some of my devices (RTL-SDRs) would lock up when I powered on my Yaesu FT-897. I eventually tracked this ...
- 23.7k
4
votes
Does 3 W vs 5 W TX power make a huge difference in QRP CW operation?
It makes a difference of:
$$ 10 \times \log_{10}\left(3 \over 5\right) = 2.2 \:\mathrm{dB} $$
How big is 2.2 dB? See How big is a decibel?
It's also relevant to note: if the 12V battery is lead acid, ...
- 50.8k
4
votes
Are there any cons of running shack on battery?
In addition to the points raised in the other fine answers, I'd like to add a few:
A good three-stage battery charger for lead-acid batteries may cost more than a power supply.
Many chargers make ...
- 8,982
4
votes
Power connector for a HPA
I've seen these before, and they need to be soldered.
What you have is a solder-type feedthrough capacitor with a solder-type ground lug next to it.
- 7,605
3
votes
How do I separate dovetailed PowerPole housings?
The Anderson power pole connectors I had to dismantle were not easy to disassemble by hand. (They were not glued, nor did they have a roll pin.) Using the instructions provided by this website (black ...
- 31
3
votes
How do I separate dovetailed PowerPole housings?
The question asked about separating the plastic parts of a PowerPole connector with more than one conductor. Other answers talk about this. If you want to further break apart the connectors, follow ...
- 41
3
votes
Accepted
How do I separate dovetailed PowerPole housings?
Individual PowerPole housings are in fact easy to separate by hand, assuming they are not locked together in some way.
The reason I found it hard is that the first time I experimented with using the ...
- 23.7k
3
votes
Accepted
On Anderson Powerpoles, does the red on go on the left or right?
They say a picture is worth a thousand words:
Source: ARRL
If viewed from the "hood" side where the connector is flat, with the wires going down, and the mating side of the connector up, then the ...
- 50.8k
3
votes
What sources of power are useful in emergency situations?
When they installed solar on my house, I lamented how Hurricane Sandy came, and yet all of the people having solar on their house could not use it because of the anti-islanding law(s) which say that ...
3
votes
What sources of power are useful in emergency situations?
This is sort of an "it depends" question, and you noted that yourself in your text I believe. It will take some Q & A with yourself to come to a conclusion.
First: What is the "field" situation.
...
- 241
3
votes
Understanding power supply requirements
The circuitry in a standard radio transceiver will probably draw around an amp while it is powered on - this includes the CPU, display and other such things that are always running. Handheld radios ...
- 4,429
3
votes
Understanding power supply requirements
Note that even when not transmitting, a transceiver will draw power for the receiver, audio amplifier, control panel processor and display, etc. That idle power adds on top of the power sent thru the ...
- 13k
3
votes
Practical differences between switching and linear power supplies?
You've pretty much hit the nail on it's proverbial head:
Both are power supply architectures, and as such generally fulfill the role of providing a constant-as-necessary voltage source (or current ...
- 14.7k
3
votes
Is it possible to power your ham radio station by solar power? If so, how?
Yes, it's possible. Photovoltaic panels convert solar radiation to electrical power. Why wouldn't it be possible to run a station, or any other electrical device, on solar power?
Most amateur radio ...
- 50.8k
3
votes
Accepted
Regulated Power Supply vs Class 2 AC/DC Adapters
If by “a regulated power supply” you mean specifically a non-switching one as your second paragraph, then “a regulated power supply” and “an AC/DC adapter (linear, non-switching)” are exactly the same ...
- 23.7k
3
votes
Need batteries for backpack operation
Sealed lead acid batteries are heavy. I would not recommend them. lithium phosphate or lipo are lighter, but can be hazardous. in case of physical damage to the battery they can burst into flames or ...
- 1,318
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible