TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3
EMERGENCY COORDINATOR WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
WOOD COUNTY ARES BULLETIN NR 19.42 DATE: October 20, 2019
SUBJECT: UNIFORM POWER CONNECTORS
One of the best things you can do is uniform your power plugs and connections. If your club, group, or organization preplan the wiring of the radio equipment, swapping or installing radios and other equipment can be a breeze in an emergency.
Now's the time to start planning for uniform wiring. The best way to wire, or connect, every piece of equipment for emergency is to use the Anderson PowerPole connector. The Anderson PowerPole connector is about as fool proof as you can get. They come in various power ratings, but the most universal is the 30 Amp plug.
If the connectors are assembled properly, you'll no longer have to worry about reversing the plugs and, either ruining a radio or causing lots of sparks by plugging two power sources together. The connecters are designed so they will only plug together one way, and that is Positive to Positive and Negative to Negative. These connectors should be used on all new, and old equipment, and power sources. Any old plugs and connectors should be changed out.
The Anderson PowerPole plugs can be purchased for less than a dollar and are much more universal. You can also make special adaptors for those unusual situations that will arise. Special adaptors could made up with the Anderson PowerPole connector on one end, and another type of connector, or plug on the other end.
The other end of an adaptor could have a Male cigarette lighter plug, a Female cigarette lighter socket, alligator clips, and spade lugs, etc. Fusible links with Anderson PowerPole on each end, for those pieces of equipment not wired with a fuse. Another adaptor could be a splitter that would have several plugs to allow multiple connections when only one power source is available, or when more than one piece of equipment needs to be powered.
For emergency use these connectors will make it easier and faster to connect temporary equipment and will be around for a long time.
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV