Tek Net

February 12, 2023

"DC power distribution in your vehicle and shack with WEST MOUNTAIN RADIO products"

This week we are discussing some of the ways to deal with DC power distribution in your vehicle and how to add emergency back-up power for your communications equipment at home.

 

The WEST MOUNTAIN RADIO products use Anderson Power Pole connectors with three different size pole connections as seen on the right.

15 amp is the smallest with 30 amp pins in the middle size and the largest is 45 amp pins for that high current connection

This ISOpwr makes connecting in to the vehicles electrical system safe.and charges the secondary battery powering your radio equipment.

I was operating a 120 watt trunk mounted mobile radio and noticed that when I transmitted that  the car’s dash lights flickered slightly.

Installing a 55amp Gel battery in the trunk, eliminated the effect on my vehicle’s electrical system by shortening the power leads from the radio and gave me full power to the antenna.

This unit also made sure that the battery was being charged adequately when the car was running.

This PWRgate makes having a battery back-up on all your 12 volt equipment safe and organized.

Using a RIGrunner with the number of needed connections, makes headaches from your power distribution issues a thing of the past.

RIGrunners come up to 12 outlets with a current handling capacity of 80 Amps. (Shown below)

By connecting the DC IN of this RIGrunner 4005 to the OUT connection of your PWRgate, you now have battery back-up and distribution to all the 12 volt devices, eliminating all those wall wart transformers, with your radio power leads in a more organized manner.

These RIGrunners aren’t just for your shack power distributiuon issues, they make your vehicle power wiring issues a snap also.

If you particular power requirements doesn’t call for battery back-up, but just a simple secure method of powering your equipment, the a PD-4 Anderson power block may be just the ticket.

Whether its from your car battery or from a bench supply in your shack, a simple distribution block like this PD-4 should provide all the current your equipment needs.

One connection from your source will power three pieces of equipment securely.

Pictured is a 45 Amp Anderson connector (ham size) sitting on top of a 400 Amp Anderson connector.

Commercial uses for the Anderson type of connector has proven over the years that it is a safe and effective means to connect two wires together in a wide variety of current needs.

The reason you see a RED connector being plugged into a BLACK connector is because these are a battery tray with 10 batteries hooked up in series, positive from one battery connecting to the negative of the next battery.

Anderson Power Pole connectors and the correct crimping tool along with WEST MOUNTAIN RADIO products are available at Gigaparts ….support your local radio store.

Gene KG7XD makes sure that all HARC members leave the store with a smile on their face….(non-members too!)

Until next week....73 DE WB6AMT Earl