The 2 meter radio had been in a box since we last moved. The cable that matched the IC-28A power cord was lost. This weekend, to get it back on the air, I rewired the power supply with Power Pole connectors.
The first step was to understand what was needed. The Astron RS-20A was only powering the keyer, and the Icom IC-28A uses about 6 to 8 amps when transmitting. The #12 gauge wire should be fine with the 20 amp supply and equipment that draws less than 10 amps. I needed something that would handle the two pieces that I currently had, and a place to easily plug in some other equipment in the future.
I needed to make one 3-foot cable with power pole connectors on each end to go from the IC-28A to to the RIGrunner 4005 power distribution box, replace the 2 meter radio’s power connector with power pole connectors, and use the pre-made cable from the power supply to the power distribution box. The crimp connectors appeared to big for the keyer’s fine wires, and the keyer had connectors that easily plugged into the power supply. Re-wiring the keyer was left for another day.
Since this was my first time with these connectors, I made the 3-foot cable first. There were plenty of wires and connectors for practicing. The hardest problem I had was twisting the #12 gauge wire tight enough to fit into the connectors without a strand of wire poking out. After trying it a few times, and learning how far to strip the wire, it became easy.
With the first cable made, it was time to cut the connector off the 2 meter radio and put on the power pole connectors. I wanted to leave enough cord on both the radio side and the old connector side to put power pole connectors on both. However, I was concerned that there was only enough cord to put connectors on one or the other.
The wire in the power cord looked to be in good condition and putting the new connectors on went well.
The cutting and crimping was all done. The cable was connected from the power supply to the RIGrunner 4005 unit, and the newly-made cable was connected from that unit to the IC-28A 2 meter radio. One of the hardest parts was finding a place to put the power distribution unit. If I end up liking where it went, it will get screwed down, but for now this will work well.
The radio was connected to an antenna. the cables were checked. It was time for the smoke test. The power supply was turned on, the keyer still worked, and then the radio was powered on for the first time in close to ten years.
Everything came on and works well. The initial purpose was to get this old radio back on the air, but the bigger benefit is having the shack wired with common power pole connectors. My equipment (someday to include the keyer) has the same connectors as my local club and many others use. The equipment can quickly be swapped around when needed.
