From owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Sat Mar 8 10:19:11 1997 Received: from fidoii.CC.Lehigh.EDU (fidoii.CC.Lehigh.EDU [128.180.1.4]) by oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (8.7.6/8.7.1) with ESMTP id KAA23057 for ; Sat, 8 Mar 1997 10:19:10 -0500 (EST) X-Received-x: from fidoii.CC.Lehigh.EDU (fidoii.CC.Lehigh.EDU [128.180.1.4]) by oucsace.cs.ohiou.edu (8.7.6/8.7.1) with ESMTP id KAA23057 for ; Sat, 8 Mar 1997 10:19:10 -0500 (EST) Received: from Lehigh.EDU ([127.0.0.1]) by fidoii.cc.lehigh.edu with SMTP id <35141-22252>; Sat, 8 Mar 1997 10:18:46 -0500 Received: from nss2.CC.Lehigh.EDU ([128.180.1.26]) by fidoii.cc.lehigh.edu with ESMTP id <34911-35050>; Sat, 8 Mar 1997 10:17:17 -0500 Received: from mgate.arrl.org (root@mgate.arrl.org [205.217.201.2]) by nss2.CC.Lehigh.EDU (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id KAA32988 for ; Sat, 8 Mar 1997 10:17:15 -0500 Received: from smtp_gw by mgate.arrl.org with smtp (Smail3.1.29.1 #9) id m0w3Ns2-0004ohC; Sat, 8 Mar 97 10:17 EST Message-Id: Date: Sat, 8 Mar 1997 10:06:00 -0500 Reply-To: zlau@arrl.org Sender: owner-qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU Precedence: bulk From: "Lau, Zack, W1VT" To: "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: Re: Power Connectors X-To: qrplist X-Mailer: Worldtalk (NetConnex V4.00a)/MIME X-Listprocessor-Version: 8.1 beta -- ListProcessor(tm) by CREN Status: RO I think a summary is in order: No connector is ideal. :-). But, the Molex connectors seem to be a good compromise for QRP types. Page 22.6 of the 1997 ARRL Handbook depicts a 12 volt connector recommended by the ARRL Field Services Department (not by the ARRL BOD, who makes "official decisions for the organization."). This "standard" is cross polarized to those found on HW-9s--BEWARE. It features the widely available Molex connector sold by Radio Shack, but doesn't handle enough power for high power mobile radios. I don't doubt they melt if you try and pass 25 amps through them. Another connector that has gotten a lot of favorable use is the Anderson Power Pole connectors http://www.andersonpower.com/ These are modular connectors which handle much more current, but you may need to resort to mail order to get them. They are single circuit blocks you slide together to to form connectors--for a 2 wire circuit you need 4 blocks. I discovered that while the brute force approach of forcing these connectors together is probably futile, one can cleverly slide these apart, reassemble them incorrectly, and wreak havoc. Most people recommend a little superglue to fix this problem. I suspect the expensive crimp tool works best--at $650 I'm not going to find out. Soldering doesn't always seem to work--infant mortality intermittents seem to crop up. Someone suggested the flux causing the problem. I think it may also be wire stiffening and solder buildup fouling up the flat spring mechanism. But, I think that once the Powerpole connector works, it lasts many more cycles and has lower loss than Molex connectors. Model car/airplane builders seem to like them. --Zack Lau W1VT