yeah, they just put a quick dab of solder on the bare wires, keeps the 
strands from separating and stuff, if I use a setup like that I do the same 
thing though I much rather put wire loops or something on there or my most 
common Anderson power poles, just to make a neater setup.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christy Schulte" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:35 PM
Subject: Re: question about connecting a power supply


> Hi,
>
> Well, the good news is I got it working.. Of course I have no idea what my
> signal sounds like, haven't been able to make any contacts yet, but it 
> runs
> the thing and I know I at least keyed up a couple of repeaters. I'm pretty
> sure this cable already has some sort of end on the wires, as I said they
> are twisted together and there's a single point at the end, but I'm not
> familiar enough to know what was done. maybe Tom can shed some light on
> that? What I ended up doing was pushing the wire through the holes in each
> screw, then turning it a bit so that the excess wire was also touching the
> screw. Doing this, it allowed me to clamp it down without much wire 
> sticking
> out, really the only thing sticking out is that point at the end and even
> then only by maybe an eighth of an inch, if that. I also made sure those
> points were no where near one another.
>
> The caps only thread out to a certain point, they won't come off 
> completely.
> As for the duty rating, I can only tell you that it was advertised as a 15
> amp supply. Beyond that I'm not sure, it didn't say on the website. I've
> seen more sturdy looking supplies, but hoping this one will do the job at
> least for now. I definitely appreciate the info though, I can use all the
> info I can get... Now off to learn the radio, but I'll definitely be
> checking in.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: For blind ham radio operators
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Louis Kim Kline
> Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2006 6:14 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: question about connecting a power supply
>
>
> Hi Christy.
>
> First of all, there is no shame in being a newbie because we all had to
> start somewhere.  There are probably three things that you should take 
> note
> of.  First of all, is the current rating of the power supply heavy enough
> for that radio.  That may be a problem, especially if you are relying on
> the surge or intermittent duty current rating.  For FM equipment, it is a
> much better practice to look at the continuous duty rating.  Intermittent
> duty is ok for SSB because you are only drawing full current for brief
> instances of time, generally on your voice peaks.  But FM is drawing full
> current all of the time that you are transmitting.  I am not familiar
> enough with your power supply to know whether it will or will not handle
> the job.
>
> Second, does your power supply have the type of binding post caps that 
> only
> thread out to a certain point, or do they thread off completely?
>
> The third item, you've already taken care of--noting the polarity.
>
> Generally, it is a good practice to put some kind of wire end on the wires
> that will slide over the binding post.  That is partly because of the
> tendency of the wire to slip off the post as you noted in your
> message.  But an even more serious problem is the tendcy for a strand or
> two to work loose from the post and touch the other post, thereby shorting
> out the power supply.  That can be enough to destroy a poorly protected
> power supply.
>
> The type of binding post will govern what type of wire end is most
> suitable.  If the cap doesn't completely unthread, then you could consider
> one of two options.  The first, and probably the better option is to use
> heavy duty spade lugs.  These are available in both crimp on and solder on
> formats.  For low current devices, you can get away with crimp on, but it
> is not advisable with devices drawing more thean 10 amps because at those
> current levels, resistive losses start to generate a great deal of heat,
> and voltage drops become significant.  Remember that if your connections
> are getting warm, then you have lost power which will never be converted 
> to
> radio frequency energy.
>
> The other option is to use banana plugs on the wires and fit them into the
> holes on the binding post screw heads.  This is also not a good option for
> high current divices, but can be a good option for HTs and QRP
> requipment.  I don't think it would be a good move for the TMG707A, which
> probably draws too much current.
>
> If the binding post caps do thread off, then there is a better option
> available--ring tongue wire ends, available from your local hardware
> store.  Just be sure to get ones that are large enough to handle the
> diameter of your wire.  The ones that Radio Shack carries are generally
> badly sized for heavy current applications, but I bought a whole bunch of
> nice ones at my local home improvement store.
>
> The nice thing about the ring tongue wire ends is that there is no way 
> that
> they can slip off the binding posts and once the caps are cranked down 
> they
> make a very secure connection.
>
> I use these throughout my station, and as long as the wire is well 
> soldered
> to the ends, they are extremelyreliable.  You can probably even crimp 
> these
> on for a short period of time to get on the air, but you probably want to
> get someone to solder them at your earliest opportunity.
>
> One last thought.  If your power supply is the 10 amp one that Radio Shack
> sold a few years ago, that is the one with the binding posts on the front
> and the cigarette lighter socket on the front, then I would caution you
> that the filtering on that supply is less than great.  My sister used two
> of those supplies and had a lot of trouble with hum until she finally
> replaced them with Astron supplies.  If that is not the model you are
> using, then I apologize for any moment of panic that I might have
> caused.  I haven't paid as much attention to Radio Shack's latter ham 
> radio
> products, so it's entirely possible that you've got a model of power 
> supply
> that I've never had any experience with.
>
> I hope this info is helpful to you.
>
> 73, de Lou K2LKK
>
>
> At 04:20 PM 12/19/2006 -0600, you wrote:
>>I posted this privately to someone, but thought perhaps it might work
> better
>>to post it here, even if I do feel like a complete newbie doing so..
>>
>>Ok, being as I've never hooked up my own power supply before--when I was
>>active before it was just on an HT.. I thought I knew what I was doing, 
>>but
>>it's not working the way I'd expected. the kenwood 707a came in yesterday,
>>and the power supply today. So now the challenge of connecting the two..
>>
>>I got a radio shack power supply, 13.8vdc as recommended by the manual, 15
>>amps. The terminals on the front of it look kind of like knobs on a radio
> or
>>something, they have big plastic covers that you use to screw and unscrew
>>them. When unscrewed, I managed to reach down and feel the actual screw,
> and
>>each screw has a hole in it that goes all the way from the top of the 
>>screw
>>to the bottom. the knobs have holes in them too, going front the back.
>>
>>As far as the radio DC cable, each has what feel like several very small
>>bare wires at the end, but the wires have been twisted together and
> sawtered
>>at the end, so it's more like a single wire at the end of each, positive
> and
>>negative. they are labeled, so I know which is which, and I know which
>>terminal is which on the power supply. Of course, everything is unplugged
> as
>>I'm trying to connect them.
>>
>>So, the first thing I tried was sticking the wires from the radio into the
>>holes on the knobs. this didn't work, because rescrewing the knobs still
>>didn't hold the wires in place. Next I tried wrapping the wires around the
>>correct terminal, around the screw itself then screwing on the knobs. this
>>sort of worked, but as it started to clamp down, the knob part started
>>pushing the wires away rather than holding them in place. Is there a
> certain
>>trick to this? Should I be feeding the wire into the middle of the screw
>>where there's a hole first, then wrapping it? I just don't want to
>>experiment too much because I don't want to damage the cable. On the other
>>hand, I sure don't want to do it wrong and create a worse problem. I'm
>>looking into getting some eyes over here, but finding someone with
> knowledge
>>of these things is far from easy, especially when I can't get on the air
>>anywhere except echolink, and I'm not sure which repeaters are close to me
>>that also have echolink access.
>>thanks!
>>--
>>Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
>>Checked by AVG Free Edition.
>>Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.1/390 - Release Date: 7/17/2006
>
> Louis Kim Kline
> A.R.S. K2LKK
> Home e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
> Work e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
> Work Telephone:  (585) 697-5753
>
>
> --
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.1/390 - Release Date: 7/17/2006
>
>
> --
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.1/390 - Release Date: 7/17/2006
>
> --
> Internal Virus Database is out-of-date.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.10.1/390 - Release Date: 7/17/2006
>