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Question by brntwest: Mobile Ham Radio In Home?
OK. I have a question about these mobile rigs that people hook up in their homes. All i have is an HT. If I’m not mistaking mobile rigs just have 2 wires for the power so you can hook it up for a car. So how do u hook one of these rigs up in your home?
Thanks!!!!
Best answer:
Answer by 1992dodge
You would use a 12 Volt power supply. You can get many different types of power supplies. If all you plan on doing is using it for your radio then you can get a simple and cheap 12 volt power supply.
Both responders are correct. The only thing I could add, if you are considering buying equipment, is to make sure you have a power supply that will handle what you are going to use it for.
When I updated my old station from a Swan 260 with an AC supply built in, to a solid state rig that would handle the WARC bands, I got a power supply that will run about 25 amps, and a DC power strip that I could use to wire both the Alinco DX77 I bought and the used Yaesu FT-2200 I got. I didn’t run both at the same time, but the 25 amps will supply enough current to run the two on transmit simultaneously. They draw little current (in single digits) on receive, so even having both radios on at once will work. I’m the only operator and I can only talk on one at a time, so the transmit drain is never more than one radio.
I’m still using the MFJ 4225MV supply and the DC power strip I got in 2000 for my ICOM IC 746 and Yaesu FT-7800R.
Just remember that the radio will draw only what it needs, so a supply rated to 40 or 50 amps will not damage your rig.
He is correct, but just make sure the one you get has a sufficient amperage rating to handle the draw of the radio you are hooking up to it. A CB only puts out about 2 watts and will only draw a few amps, but a 50W VHF rig could draw up to 10 or 15A and a 100W HF rig could want 20A. One other warning; not all power supplies are suitable for communications gear. Some will put a lot of noise into your signal (non-communications grade switching PS’s are bad for this) so try to find one recommended for this type of gear. Then you just need some kind of external antenna (very easy to homebrew)