Scanners/Radio Powered by Regulated Power Supply....

[paramedszaf]

Anyone operating their shack scanners / radios via this method? I have a scanner (or 2) that don't have a wall wart (may possibly be a good thing) and have a regulated power supply that I can use.

I found the Type-M connectors for the BC780xlt's the question I have is what type/gague wire to use..

 

[crcarter]

Anyone operating their shack scanners / radios via this method? I have a scanner (or 2) that don't have a wall wart (may possibly be a good thing) and have a regulated power supply that I can use..

I've run my PRO-2006 that way for years. It has a AC cord, but I figure that the remote power supply keeps the heat down inside the scanner.

 

[W4BOZ]

I've been running an old Uniden SC-150 handheld off a little 3amp supply for the past few months. It's on 24/7 feeding Unitrunker. The supply barely gets warm and I've had no problems so far.

 

[paramedszaf]

I was thinking something bigger to run my entire shack. What gague wire do I use?

 

[Skypilot007]

I use an Astron RS-35M to power all my radios in the shack. Eight radios are currently connected to it. I really need to make or buy a distribution system for it though. Right now everything is connected directly to the output lugs of the power supply, it could be neater. I used mostly the factory power cords on all the radios, the scanners are about 14-16 guage wire I suppose. Transmitting rigs of course are heavier guage wire. I haven't had any problems with it. It runs 24/7 and has been except power outage for over 5 years.

 

[paramedszaf]

Distribution system? Like one used in a vehicle application?

I wanted to make my own power cord w/o hacking up the ones I DO have intact.. So 14-16 gague wire will do it, in line fuses?

Ed

 

[W4BOZ]

Would it be possible for you to buy connectors that match your scanners at Radio Shack and then solder wire to them? Most of the scanners that I've run off power supplies were connected by cables that I made up myself by just purchasing the right connectors at RS and wiring them up.

I've known some people that use the West Mountain Radio RIGrunners to power their shacks but they're mainly running a mixture of ham gear and other receivers/radio stuff. They might be overkill and a bit more complicated/costly than you're looking for, but they apparently work very well.

http://www.westmountainradio.com/RIGrunner.htm

 

[paramedszaf]

- what gague wire did you use?

- what power supply are you using?

- can we see how you have the wires dressed up after connecting them?

Ed

 

[n5usr]

I have my ham bench and scanners powered off one large Astron power supply. I recently switched to using Andersen PowerPoles, and while a bit skeptical at first have come to quite like them. Before I was using some Molex plugs, but they were getting rather pricey, the powerpoles are about half the price and a lot less trouble to put together.

My setup has the power supply feeding a 100AH AGM battery with a short (maybe 1 foot) jumper of 10GA, the battery then feeds into a RigRunner DC power strip again with a short 10GA jumper. All the radios plug into the RigRunner.

I move things around waaay too much to really "dress things up" nicely. I only wind up tearing it all apart shortly thereafter! But that's another nice thing with the powerpoles - there are a number of nice adapters available, in my cars I have some small "splitters" that have four to eight connections tied to a common bus. So I can just connect up my smaller stuff I move between vehicles easily.

As for the cords to each device, I just use the cables that came with them. If I only had a wall-wart cord, and I want to be able to use the wall-wart if needed, I just cut the cord about 6-8" from the wall-wart and put powerpoles on both cut ends. Now, I can plug the device into the ham bench power strip, or into a car, or use the wall-wart at work.

I think it's a great idea to use a regulated supply, as many wall-warts are terrible at regulation. The older transformer style ones had little or no regulation and would sometimes push the upper limit of the device's operating voltage range. Newer switching styles regulate voltage better, but some don't have good filtering and can generate a ton of RF noise. This is usually more of a problem for HF work.

 

[mrweather]

I've got my shack (IC746PRO, TK-890, BC796D) all running off an Alinco switching PS. Power is distributed through a 5 port Rigrunner (PowerPole connections). No problems using this setup.

In fact, I have all my gear switched over to PowerPole connectors for easy connecting and moving stuff around.

 

[K8PBX]

Currently running 3 GRE PSR-600's and an Icom PCR-100 off a 12VDC 5Amp regulated supply without any issues.

Sure beats accommodating all those friggin' wall warts.

 

[paramedszaf]

I've got my shack (IC746PRO, TK-890, BC796D) all running off an Alinco switching PS. Power is distributed through a 5 port Rigrunner (PowerPole connections). No problems using this setup.

In fact, I have all my gear switched over to PowerPole connectors for easy connecting and moving stuff around.

How do the power poles work? Crimp on? How do they connect to the Rig Runner?

 

[n5usr]

How do the power poles work? Crimp on? How do they connect to the Rig Runner?

The "official" way is to crimp them. The "official" crimp tool is hideously expensive, but there are some off-brand versions that do just fine for much less. You can also just use a pliers-type crimp tool.

Many people solder them instead (or crimp AND solder) - the "pins" have a barrel the wire slips into, so works well either way. Then the pins slide into the back end of the plastic body and snap into place.

The RigRunners have powerpoles permanently mounted in them. You just plug your cables into them like a power strip. There are also smaller "splitters" that have four to eight powerpoles on a bus, in a compact form, that can be used in tighter or for portable locations.

One really nice thing about powerpoles is there aren't male and female connectors, so you don't have to have some of each on hand - just get the amperage rating you want and they work for any connection you want to make. The individual wire housings can also be assembled into multi-wire assemblies in various configurations, if you want or need to have some funky plug arrangement.

That also means you have to be sure you assemble yours the right way, so everything plugs together right! There's a standard plug arrangement supported by the ARES/RACES/emcommm folks, that is also the format found on the RigRunners and other commercially made power strips, so it is a good idea to assemble yours in that format.

The stuff is available in various places, I usually buy mine from PowerWerx:
http://www.powerwerx.com/Default.asp
You can browse all the options there, and get more detailed info on the connectors themselves.

 

[paramedszaf]

Can the RIG runners also be used in vehicles for multiple power applications? (radio, scanners, DC outlets, lights ect?)

 

[n5usr]

Sure. They really are much like a power strip, except for DC. If you have a place to mount them, they'd be very nice. There are several different ones to choose from, the number of ports it has determines the length. Metal case, each port has its own fuse, a few models have some over/undervoltage indicators and alarms.

One note on the fusing, if you get a model that has no wire pigtail hanging out the side, you just use one of the ports as the input. (They don't count that port in the product name, so a "5-port" RigRunner actually has six, one for the input.) That port also has a fuse, you just put a larger fuse in that slot that will cover the max amp draw you want to allow. They default to having the large fuse in the first slot, but all the powerpoles are attached to a common bus inside, and are identical so it doesn't matter which one you use for the power feed.

Also note, the "standard" size powerpoles are rated to 45A, above that the bodies and contacts start to get larger. Below that, there are three pin "sizes" - 15A, 30A, 45A - but the actual contact points are the same. The size difference is just the crimp barrel, for different wire diameters.

 

[LordJ]

I use this with a RPS http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1116

 

[paramedszaf]

I use this with a RPS http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1116

So the difference between this and the RIG Runner is the company it's made by and they way the power connections are made?

 

[rico47635]

I was thinking something bigger to run my entire shack. What gague wire do I use?

This depends entirely on how much current your radios will draw. A good rule of thumb is to look in the manuals for your radios to find out the maximum amount of current the radio will draw. Add all those figures up and go from there.

 

[rico47635]

Would it be possible for you to buy connectors that match your scanners at Radio Shack and then solder wire to them? Most of the scanners that I've run off power supplies were connected by cables that I made up myself by just purchasing the right connectors at RS and wiring them up.

I've known some people that use the West Mountain Radio RIGrunners to power their shacks but they're mainly running a mixture of ham gear and other receivers/radio stuff. They might be overkill and a bit more complicated/costly than you're looking for, but they apparently work very well.

http://www.westmountainradio.com/RIGrunner.htm

Rigrunners are definitely a bit pricey, but they do the trick and give your "power station" and nice clean look.

 

[paramedszaf]

Untill my RIG runner arrives here can I run a connection direct to the posts of a power supply? One of my recent "acquisitions" came with the wrong (24v 500mA) wall wart and I would like to place it in service...