[Elecraft] 12 volt PA

[George A. Thornton]

My understanding is that lower volt systems are preferred by electrical
safety codes because they pose less danger to human life. From what I
understand, the only way you could cause death from a 12 volt circuit is
if the short circuited path goes through the human heart.

That is why electrical safety codes demonstrate a preference for lower
volt systems in highly mobile uses such as motor vehicles.  
 
-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Phil Kane
Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2010 1:43 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] 12 volt PA

On 4/15/2010 11:51 AM, David Gilbert wrote:

> My guess is that the only reason we still see 12 volt rigs is because
> they make mobile and portable use more convenient, which of course was
> Elecraft's roots anyway.  Possibly even that will go away eventually
...
> the automotive manufactures have for some time been exploring higher
> voltage (42 volts or something like that if I remember correctly)
> systems because of the increasing current requirements (requiring
> heavier wiring) of today's expanding vehicle electronics.  That was
> actively being discussed a dozen years ago, though, so most likely the
> voltage overshoot issues (relays and motors have a lot of inductance)
> have proven difficult to overcome.

  Memories of my conversion of a 6V Volkswagen "Beetle" to 12V
  many years ago, so I could finally get rid of the 6V-to-12V
  booster that was being overloaded as I added stuff in the
  vehicle that required 12V.  That was an interesting project.

  In the last several years, commercial comm sites have gone to
  the telephone industry's 48 volt standard, with the major comm
  equipment manufacturers putting the 48V-to-12V down-converter
  as an integral part of their equipment or a needed accessory.
  The railroad industry has been at 72 volts down-converted to
  12V for ages.

  I for one am happy to stay with 12V on my K2 which usually runs
  at about 40 watts for data modes.

--  73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
    Elecraft K2/100   s/n 5402

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