[Mobile-Portable] Wire Size

[Arthur F. Clemons]

Jim Miller:
> IF the radio manufacturers would have thought there would be a benefit by
> running #2 wire (welding cable) from the battery to their radios, they would
> have supplied #2 wire pigtails coming out of the back of the radio instead
> of the #14 or #12 that they DO supply.

It's been my experience that manufacturers offer the least costly
alternative they can get away with.  Providing a connector for let's say
#0 cable would be expensive as all get out.  Even miniscule voltage
drops can affect how well a mobile rig transmits.  The manual for let's
say the Yaesu FT-857D even specifies a minimum voltage below which the
rig can't operate as do other commonly used mobile rigs.  The small
difference in voltage drop can be the difference between hearing a riq
squeal or transmit properly.

It's also quite easy to feed let's say #2 wire into a connector similar
to what is used by the Kenwood TS-50 & Yaesu FT-857/897s by making the
shortest possible jumpers out of the largest size wire you can attach to
the connecting pins and then soldering that wire to the #2 wire and then
insulating it.

Larger size wire that is properly fused (or used with a properly sized
circuit breaker) at the Battery terminals also is no less safe than
smaller sized wire and in case you've missed it, 0.33 volts drop means
that the wire heats up in use more than 0.048 volts.