> I refuse to get into the plus/minus arguments about Powerpoles, but I do > have a warning about a particular product I bought a few years ago. It > is a plastic frame designed to hold a bank of powerpoles, which I > installed on a little battery pack/charger storage case I built. It > contains 4 pairs of powerpoles in the following configuration (B = > black, R = red):
> R B R B > R B R B > It allows one to plug in 4 different powerpole accessories at once. > Unfortunately, it turns out that it is possible to get the polarity > wrong when using this bank of powerpoles. While groping around one > Field Day, trying to plug in a K2 without adequate light to see what I > was doing, I accidentally plugged it into the center two connectors, > thus getting the polarity wrong (B R instead of R B). Fortunately, > being a K2, there is a trusty little reverse polarity protection diode > which prevents any damage from occurring. After correcting the mistake, > the K2 came to life. I know the battery voltage indication on the K2 is > low because of this diode, but that's a small price to pay for this > "Murphy-proofing" feature. Thanks, Elecraft. > 73's, > John AA0VE John, from your description I am assuming that you bought the blank "shell" or "frame" and installed the Powerpoles yourself. By installing the Powerpoles in a different configuration, you can prevent the reverse polarity situation from ever happening. Referencing the diagram you posted, you can have side-by-side sets of Powerpoles. This leads to the potential problem you experienced. By loading the panel shell this way: R B R B R B R B prevents any possibility of plugging a power cord in such a way that the polarity is reversed. Orienting the connectors as you did leaves open the possibility of you or someone else someday repeating this error. I strongly suggest you disassemble that Powerpole panels on your device and reassemble them as shown. Good Luck, Bruce, N1RX ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
