[Elecraft] Proper K2 power cord?

[Chris Kantarjiev]

> Here is a chart of wire gage versus current capacity for power 
> transmission.
>
> Gage   Amps
> 12         9.3
> 14         5.9
> 16         3.7
> 18         2.3
> 20         1.5
>
> The K2 10W version uses 2.0 amps for transmit and up to 0.250 amps for 
> receive. It looks like  16 gage wire would work fine.

This is a pretty interesting table, especially in light of the
sizing of PowerPole connectors. The "30A" contact doesn't comfortably
fit anything larger than 12g wire. I don't have a "15A" contact
handy, but my memory is that it handles 18g OK, but I'm not sure
if it will handle 16g.

That's just ... broken :-)

> If it were me, I would buy the connector from Elecraft.

Yeah, I guess I'm going to have to get a few. I admit that my
bench is littered with little cords that have "15A" PowerPoles on
one end and generic power connectors on the other end, all made
out of 20g or 22g zip cord. 

I'm having a really hard time imagining pushing 16g zip cord into
the body of a 2.1mm plug! I think I've done this with 18g once,
and it wasn't pretty - perhaps the cable sold by the Wireman
has thinner insulation?

73 de chris K6DBG