Power For Your Ham Radio’s

After reading NC Scouts article from Thursday titled, Radio Quick Start Radio Guide I thought I would spend an entire article on powering your amateur radio equipment.

When I became an amateur radio operator, I was surprised to find out that 95% of all amateur radio rigs operate on 12-volt power sources not 120-volt. I quickly scrambled to buy a power source that reduced 120-volts down to 12-volts by reading a bunch of reviews. The prices ranged from $150- on up to hundreds of dollars. The one I settled on due in part to cost was the Mega Watt S-350 adjustable power supply.  I am still using the original one I purchased, and you cannot beat the price being under $60-. I liked it so much I have bought three more over the years. Two I have given away to new hams and one I still have in the box as a backup if this one goes TU (Tummy Up).

As NC Scout mentioned in his article another good power supply is the MFJ 28-amp power supply.  It is inexpensive too being under $110-.

The next power source I have in my shack is a deep cycle marine Group-27 battery and computerized battery charger. I use the BMK Smart Battery charger.

This smart battery charger is not your father’s battery charger. Your father’s old battery charger would fry your battery by evaporating the fluid in the battery in a short time if you didn’t disconnect it once the battery was charged. The series of smart battery chargers available today will not do this. Well not as much as your fathers at least. I still inspect my batter fluid level once a month and top it off if needed with distilled water. I put a reoccurring appointment in my smartphone to remind me to do this chore. I have gone as long as two months without checking. And yes, even if it is a smart battery charger you still need to check the fluid levels as natural evaporation occurs. Of course, if you have the money, you could always buy at triple the price a no maintenance gel battery. I have used gel batteries before however the life span is never the same as an old fashion wet battery taken care of.

Next, I want to talk about connecting all of those wires together. The power wires to the radio from a power source can become a bird’s nest in a short time. Once you have blown a few fuses, which could be hard to come by in a oh let’s say pandemic where everybody may be restricted to their home you will jump at what I am going to talk about next.

I like Anderson Power pole connectors as they make a great installation and will prevent reverse polarity errors – Less blown fuses and potential fires. Add to the Anderson Power pole connectors an Anderson Power pole power panel like this one below and you will be styling.

I bought the Chunzehui F-1005 9 Port 40A Anderson Power pole connector/splitter distributor source strip. At under $60- it is well worth your money – Trust me. 

While I am talking about Anderson Power poles buy a kit like this kit complete  with a years’ worth of Anderson power pole connections and the crimping tool. Do not do what I did. I bought the connectors and no crimping tool as I thought I could do the job with a pair of pliers. Nope, you can’t.

Okay, you have the MeggaWatt power supply, the Anderson Power pole power distributor strip, Anderson Power pole connections & crimping tool, and the back-up battery & charger described above. Now go out and buy some 12-gauge power wire like this . DO NOT buy anything less than 12-gauge to use for running power between your power distributor and power sources. To do so could cause power reduction and in extreme cases fire. If you rather, you can buy the wire by the foot from your local NAPA or other auto parts center too. I always buy the roll. In the long run it is cheaper and then you have it when you need it for other projects.

Run a stretch of the power wire from your MeggaWatt power supply to the Anderson Power pole distributor strip connected of course using Anderson Power pole connectors. Put Anderson Power pole connectors on the radio power wires and plug into your distributor strip and voila! You have organized and safe power to your rigs. Now cut off a hank of the 12-gauge power wire long enough to go from your marine deep cycle battery to your distributor strip and add Anderson Power pole connectors to the end. Now if you lose 120-volt house power just unplug the MeggaWatt power source and plug in the deep cycle batter cables and voila! You are back on the air.

Last, buy an assortment of fuses from your local auto supply store to match your radio’s needs…Just in case.

Freedom Through Self-Reliance®

By Published On: April 4, 2020Categories: Comms13 Comments on Power For Your Ham Radio’s

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13 Comments

  1. Anonymous April 4, 2020 at 09:32

    5

  2. Charlie Prime April 4, 2020 at 10:03

    I use four 7.5 amp hour deer feeder batteries from Academy, and a battery maintainer from Lowe’s.

    Side benefit is that I can transmit for days without AC power.

    • johnyMac April 4, 2020 at 10:19

      Good going Charlie Prime!

  3. Greg April 4, 2020 at 11:45

    Really like that power pole…Actually, I like all the options you have illuminated. I have the first power supply in 12, 24, and 48 volt. It’s a long story, but I used to find what ever power supply that suited my needs and alligator to the regulated source, such as, a Sony Stereo. Then some years back when working for a Physics dept. at a university, I discovered the power supply in a desk top computer. If you need some cheap high watt, highly suppressed power in 12v, or 5v+ or 5v-, this is it. Millions everywhere!

    For today’s purpose, there are power sources everywhere. In TVs, stereos, etc. Something that may benefit the radio and other electronic world, is the Buck-Boost Regulator. For the longest time I would reconfigure voltage regulators as amperage regulators. It’s right in the instructions for the 1.5 amp series and 3 amp series> I.E. 7805, 7812, and 350, blah, blah, blah. Mouser actually has these files online from the manufacturers. Problem is, in that configuration, what ever wattage is not used going forward, is dissipated through a heat sink. Real energy hog. Buck-Boost is much more efficient.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NTXSJHB?tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1

    This regulator may not fit your watt requirements, but there some that do. In fact, some are amp and voltage regulate adjustable. There’s literally millions of these things.

    BTW, the battery maintainer is the ultimate off grid. Am using a 100 watt solar cheapy to maintain the batteries in Kong (motorhome) as we speak.

    • johnyMac April 4, 2020 at 12:21

      Some great stuff Greg!

      Thanks for reading and commenting Brother.

  4. SoAZPrepper April 4, 2020 at 15:43

    If you want to go off grid and you are only using UHF/VHF radios, get a solar charge controller, 12v solar panel (watts depends on what you’re doing) and your deep cycle battery and you don’t need to worry about the grid. You could even use a car battery instead although be careful not to .

  5. Jay April 4, 2020 at 17:27

    Make sure the Power Supply you use is diode isolated. Some are not. If not, the battery will back feed into the power supply and blow the output of the Power supply. Use a Schottky diode to isolate. It has less voltage drop than a silicon diode.

  6. Matt April 4, 2020 at 19:42

    johnyMac,

    Could you do an article on a beginners off-grid / backup solar system? Something that could run a few thing if the line power goes down. Thanks for the great articles.

    Matt

    • johnyMac April 4, 2020 at 21:54

      Matt, I have an article in the hopper on the basic off-grid power we have at the cabin. I will find it, dust it off, and post it. Thanks for the suggestion.

      Thanks for reading and commenting Brother.

  7. Homer April 5, 2020 at 06:40

    I always tape a couple of spare fuses to he radio mounting bracket or the side of the radio itself. That way they never get lost. Great article.

    • johnyMac April 5, 2020 at 09:11

      Homer, great idea.

      Thanks for sharing it Brother.

  8. Ohio John April 5, 2020 at 07:17

    I’ve been building Li-Ion battery packs from reclaimed modem battery packs. http://www.batteryhookup.com The cells are cheap and test above initial rated capacity. I use them in a 16.4V (4S 20P) configuration and only charge them to 16V to keep the radios happy. I bought a 3D printer and designed some very nice plastic housings for them. I have a meter and several XT60 outlet plugs in the face of the housing. I built a battery charger from a 20A buck converter so I can charge the higher voltage batteries from my 12V system. You can see them on my QRZ page http://www.qrz.com/db/ke8usa .

    My 80 cell packs are built with 18650 cells and the final weight is 9.5lbs. The capacity is 52 Amp hour (740 Watt hours). By not charging them to their full voltage, you extend their usable life to around 10,000 cycles or more. You can make smaller batteries based on your requirements that only weigh a few pounds. You can find a lot of videos on you tube on how to build them and what parts are a must have to make them safe.

    73′

    John

    • johnyMac April 5, 2020 at 09:12

      Some good idea’s there Ohio John.

      Thanks you for taking the time to post them Brother.

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