Posted: 4/24/2012 7:10:36 AM EDT
| Is it possible to power my new (which I don't have yet).Kenwood 281 up with cigarette lighter receptical? Of course, in the van. And if so. Where can I get one.? |
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Quoted: Is it possible to power my Kenwood 281 up with cigarette lighter receptical? Of course, in the van. And if so. Where can I get one.? Generally not a good idea. The wiring that powers the lighter socket usually isn't of sufficient size to carry the load. You then run the risk of the wires starting a fire up under your dashboard. I highly recommend running at least 12 guage wire to the battery terminals and putting in-line fuse holders onto the battery ends of the wiring. |
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It's possible, but not a good idea. You would have to make a cable. The reasons you won't find one commercially:
- A rig like that will draw 15-20 amps on full power (likely; based on experience with similar rigs - not sure of the specs on that one off hand). This is more than your cigarette lighter is going to want to produce safely - You will get a lot of electrical noise from the cigarette lighter vs running it directly to the battery Cigarette outlets are designed for low current devices. At the very least you'll pop the fuses in your car. It's easy to run dedicated power cables to your battery and install a powerpole strip inside the vehicle. |
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Is it possible to power my new (which I don't have yet).Kenwood 281 up with cigarette lighter receptical? Of course, in the van. And if so. Where can I get one.? I'll echo the above as to it not being a 'good idea'....are you interested in the quick removal to take inside the house or tossing into another car? A 12 ga wire, fused on both leads directly to the battery terminating inside the cab with some Anderson Power Poles may 'almost' be what you're looking for (quick disconnect?). With the APP you could get you one of these for a choice for last resort link inside a different vehicle. powerwerx APP accessory link We all go on a great deal about the Anderson Power Pole Connectors, and for good reason-they ROCK! 
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I bought a Samlex 1223 after reading around and asking questions here-and checking Eham reviews.
link I like the low profile! I got mine used for $75 shipped from QTH Swap (used) and it's working right along! There are some good reviews for the Alinco PS, and Astron is a very good choice too. 
Powerwerx even has some with APP built in.... |
| Normally I go against the grain and let people know that I have been using a 19 amp power supply from radio shack for over a year with no problems. Apparently radio shack had changed them over to a 15 amp supply. For this reason I would suggest a Salmex. If your local rat shack has 19 amp in stock it is a local solution that works well. But I would say for the price I would not buy the 15 amp supply. |
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in regards to RS...sometimes you can go in and buy a pack of batteries or whatever 'cheep' and your receipt will print with a $10 off $40 purchase...that may help. Yea they stopped that, even shut down the rebate website  That was always my selling point, and not to mention they no longer carry any large AGM batteries.
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First some advice. DO NOT DO WHAT I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU!
Assuming that radio has the Kenwood T Connector, you can buy this cable from Powerwerx to do what you are looking to do. This is fine if you have the radio set to it's lower power setting. Most cigarette lighters in cars are good for 8 amps (or so I've anecdotally observed). If you forget, and key up when the radio is on high power, then you will at a minimum blow a fuse, or at a maximum set your car on fire. DO NOT DO WHAT I JUST TOLD YOU!!!! |
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On low power it might just work.
Main Trading has some used power supplies, but keep an eye out for deals there. He had some rebuilt ps a couple of weeks ago for like $25, so I scooped one up. I got a brand new 20 amp samlex last year at hamcon for $30 last year. It's huge and heavy, about the size of two shoeboxes, but it works. Actually it was a package deal from Main Trading, the guy in front of me bought the package, then decided he didn't want to carry it on the airplane back home. So I paid him the difference in cash. The problem is I'm still scraping money together for a decent dual band mobile. The damned dentist keeps robbing my piggy bank. |
I snagged a pretty good Radio Shack power supply for my 281 off of eBay because it was mistakenly labeled. The seller mistook the word 'supply' and wrote 'suppy' instead.
Check it out. There were 25,000 items under 'power supply' and a few under 'power suppy'. Nobody bid on the unit and I got it for a couple of bucks plus the price of shipping. 
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Quoted:
I snagged a pretty good Radio Shack power supply for my 281 off of eBay because it was mistakenly labeled. The seller mistook the word 'supply' and wrote 'suppy' instead.
Check it out. There were 25,000 items under 'power supply' and a few under 'power suppy'. Nobody bid on the unit and I got it for a couple of bucks plus the price of shipping. You may think you got a good deal, but it's actually supping on your power which it is sending back to the seller! |
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On low power it might just work. Main Trading has some used power supplies, but keep an eye out for deals there. He had some rebuilt ps a couple of weeks ago for like $25, so I scooped one up. I got a brand new 20 amp samlex last year at hamcon for $30 last year. It's huge and heavy, about the size of two shoeboxes, but it works. Actually it was a package deal from Main Trading, the guy in front of me bought the package, then decided he didn't want to carry it on the airplane back home. So I paid him the difference in cash. The problem is I'm still scraping money together for a decent dual band mobile. The damned dentist keeps robbing my piggy bank. 
That is a steal for a linear supply! And by far for an HF rig that is a better choice over a switching supply. For VHF/UHF FM it will not make much of a diference. Good deal by any standards! But damn it, I think you just cost me some money 
ETA: Out of stock |
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Normally I go against the grain and let people know that I have been using a 19 amp power supply from radio shack for over a year with no problems. Apparently radio shack had changed them over to a 15 amp supply. For this reason I would suggest a Salmex. If your local rat shack has 19 amp in stock it is a local solution that works well. But I would say for the price I would not buy the 15 amp supply. i have the same PS and you can still find the 19amp if you look around. a couple of the RS's around here still have them in stock and i have thought about picking up another one. its a damn fine PS and doesnt create any noise on HF. i couldnt be happier with a PS. |
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Is it possible to power my new (which I don't have yet).Kenwood 281 up with cigarette lighter receptical? Of course, in the van. And if so. Where can I get one.? yes, you can IF you install a heaver AWG plug. i believe walmart and many boat part suppliers sell whats called an accessory plug with heavy enough awg wire to power a HF radio at full power. you will need to add a fuse at the battery to protect the wire itself but that is easy to do. i would not try it with the stock cig plug on most cars/trucks but i have seen some that come through with a 15a setup. i really wouldnt trust it though and even with 15a its not enough to run the rig at full power. |
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Cig cord should work fine with the radio set for low power TX mode, (25 watts) which specs say draws less than 8A.
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even with 15a its not enough to run the rig at full power. Radio specs say less than 14A for full power transmit, so I'm not sure where the comments about needing 20A come from; I have seen power accessory sockets in some vehicles rated and fused for 20A, so check your vehicle owner's manual. It's not ideal but would get you by until you make some other arrangement. |
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Never use existing vehicle wiring to power any radio gear! If you do, you run a very great risk of causing an electrical fire—the most costly vehicle repair, period! Unfortunately, far too many amateurs do exactly that! If you're one of those, you're on your own! Further, just because you have managed to get by using the accessory socket (cigarette lighter socket by any other name) to power your amateur radio gear, doesn't mean you're safe!
http://www.k0bg.com/wiring.html I have to confess I've been guilty of doing this from time to time though. |
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Cig cord should work fine with the radio set for low power TX mode, (25 watts) which specs say draws less than 8A. Quoted:
even with 15a its not enough to run the rig at full power. Radio specs say less than 14A for full power transmit, so I'm not sure where the comments about needing 20A come from; I have seen power accessory sockets in some vehicles rated and fused for 20A, so check your vehicle owner's manual. It's not ideal but would get you by until you make some other arrangement. for some reason i was thinking about a 100w HF rig, not sure why i was thinking that. i havent seen any stock cig plugs with a 20A fuse. with auto wiring being the bare min i wouldnt trust pulling anywhere near 20a from stock wiring. this is why i usually install one of the power outlets i mentions in the rear of all my cars/trucks. i have one i need to install in the bed of my truck now but am waiting to pick up a weather proof 120 outlet so i can install my inverter and run a plug to the bed at the same time. |
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Quoted:
Is it possible to power my new (which I don't have yet).Kenwood 281 up with cigarette lighter receptical? Of course, in the van. And if so. Where can I get one.? yes, you can IF you install a heaver AWG plug. i believe walmart and many boat part suppliers sell whats called an accessory plug with heavy enough awg wire to power a HF radio at full power. you will need to add a fuse at the battery to protect the wire itself but that is easy to do. i would not try it with the stock cig plug on most cars/trucks but i have seen some that come through with a 15a setup. i really wouldnt trust it though and even with 15a its not enough to run the rig at full power. Good idea, but if I were going to the trouble of running wiring for a heavier accessory outlet, I would run the heavy AWG wires for some powerpoles. Why not get both? 
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