[Elecraft] Alternatives to PowerPoles?

[Mike S]

At 09:14 AM 4/7/2008, n2ey at aol.com wrote...
>>Considering these are used for carrying polarized power signals, why
>>do you want/require that they be "genderless?"
>
>Convenience and flexibility.

That's a non-response, since it implies that alternatives aren't. I 
believe that most hams find UHF and BNC connectors to be convenient and 
flexible, and they're gendered. Given all the argument around crimp vs. 
solder on powerpoles, I might grant you flexibility, but not 
convenience :-)

>  As radio amateurs, I'd hope we'd know a little about what we are 
> doing.

That's a very poor assumption, given the types of questions I've heard 
asked by licensees.

>We use the same RF connectors (although gendered) for everything from 
>the legal limit of power down to receiver inputs; make a mistake and 
>the results can be very unpleasant. Is 12 volts somehow more dangerous?

You've apparently never seen the results of a lithium battery 
explosion/fire. It's more than "unpleasant."

>The problem is that with adapters it's just as easy to make such 
>mistakes.

No, and saying that doesn't make it true. It should be obviously clear 
that a system which allows anything to plug into anything else is also 
the easiest one to make a mistake with.

>There's also the advantage of a universal standard

It's not a universal standard. At best, it's a standard for one group 
in one country within ham radio (ARES/RACES). It's not used by the big 
3, and given the number of questions here from people who are new to 
the connectors, it's quite far from a standard in the general ham 
community.