How to Port Mobile Rig between car and house

[JasonC]

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a mobile rig. I'd like to move it between car and house fairly regularly. The reason I'm doing this is limited budget and at this time can only afford 1 radio. I have a couple questions I'm hoping maybe somebody has already tackled in this scenario:

1) I assume a mobile rig has 3 power wires, hot, neutral and ground. If so how can I put adapters on them to make them "plugable" into the corresponding wires in the car, are there connectors to buy?
2) If I put connectors on the 3 wires do I put the female/male opposite on the wires coming out of my car's electrical system?
3) If #2 is a yes, when the rig is not plugged in how do I make those wires safe?
4) In the in-house scenario, what kind of setup would I have to "plug" the 3 wires into in the house, some time of DC/AC converter that takes this type of "plugs"?

Thanks in advance any experience/advise welcome.

JC

 

[appraiser]

Chances are the mobile unit is 12 volts, a hot and a ground. You can go to Radio Shack and buy a 12V power supply to run the radio in the house, and you can take the power cord out of the radio and put a quick connect on it, using the same female end in the car from a fused source, and on the power supply. Just buy 2 quick connects and wire them up!

Make sure your home antenna is properly grounded !!!!! I can not stress this enough.


As for making the wire "safe" use connectors that are fully enclosed so that when they are unplugged the hot wire can not make contact with a ground. There are 12V power connectors that have the ground exposed and the + shielded. One side is a male, one id a female. Wire the side that has the 12V (red) as the female to the car/power supply side that way when it is unplugged it can't ground out. These connectors look a lot like the 4 wire connectors on trailers.

 

[drgrant]

There is no neutral. It's just + and minus.

Every VHF/UHF rig I've seen in the past decade or so uses the same "T" style connector with the same pinout. You just get a 2nd power cord for the base and that's it.

-Mike

 

[Realtor MA]

You can also go with the andersen powerpoles. They're genderless and work really well. You'll still have to deal with the antenna connection and mounting/unmounting the radio. Maybe an HT with a magmount antenna in the car is the way to go for you right now?

http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/powerpole-sets/

 

[cockpitbob]

I'm very "bottom end". I just use the cigarette lighter. So long as you transmit less than about 70W the power draw is under 10Amps, which is OK for the lighter. My radio's cable has an in-line 10A fuse for added safety. I just set my mobile on the front seat (which is actually bad for cooling since the finned part doesn't have air flow around it). Back in the shack I have a power supply with a female cigarette lighter from Radio Shack connected to it.

 

[Radio]

This is a bad idea in general. I have known many people that have tried this and I have also done this several times myself over the years and it always fails. The daily docking, connecting and transporting of the mobile unit as well as the extreme temperature changes that can occur in our region take a huge toll on the equipment and its connectors. The life of the unit will be shortened to the point that it would have been more cost effective to start with two dedicated units that will have a much happier and longer life. If you are thinking of going the HT vs. MOBILE route it will fare even woese as the HT connectors are even more fragile. Find a local club or Elmer and get to some ham fests or find some used equipment from someone you trust. You can truly begin a hobby in amateur radio on a shoestring if you find good used equipment from people you trust. Buying new is always the most expensive option and good used equipment can last you a lifetime.

 

[JasonC]

Thanks for the advise guys. I'm probably going to join Whitman radio club. In the meantime I need to think about where to spend my limited $. HT or Mobile.

Thanks