[Elecraft] What Guage Wire for PS?

[Ron D' Eau Claire]

> I see several volts drop on my (admittedly too small) power cord
> at 3A draw for my K2. What guage wire should I try to cob into
> that tiny plug for about a 2 meter run with minimal drop?
>
> Dan / WG4S / K2 #2456

You aren't alone Dan. That power plug deserves to be a bit heftier to allow
larger wire sizes to be used more easily.

I run a large-size "zip" cord on mine - probably about 18 gauge. I had to
throw away the shell for the power connector - the total diameter of the
wires is greater than the diameter of the shell. I used several layers of
shrink wrap shrunk down tight onto the threads of the connector and around
the wires to hold them, but still managed to break one of those flimsy
soldering tabs off of the connector by flexing the cord after a year or so
of fiddling around. I probably should have used an inch or two of small
diameter wire to fit in the shell, and then spliced the big stuff onto it.

The size of wire needed is dependent upon the length of the cord, if course.
I have about a meter of wire running from the rig to my power supply under
the operating desk. If you put the power supply closer to the rig a smaller
wire will work just as well.

BEWARE, though, if you have a linear power supply with a large transformer,
DO NOT place it close to your K2! My power supply fit neatly under my K2,
holding it just the right distance up off of the table. And I got reports of
HUM on my signal. In spite of my call sign, I decided that was not good.

I found that the VCO in the K2 is sensitive to being modulated by strong a-c
fields such as those produced by a power transformer - even through the two
metal cases. Wayne or Eric said that a warning was going to be added to the
manual, so you may know  about that already.

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289