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Re: British electrical plugs
We're not afraid, we're prudent: 240v/250V bites a lot harder than 110v. You can guess for yourself how I know ;-)
The plugs aren't different sizes: they are fused specifically to protect the appliance wiring. Our system is safer than the US system, with completely separate circuits for lighting and power, appliance wiring and connectors that don't get dangerously hot, and switched outlets as standard. Not that I'm biased, or anything... ;-) -- Julian, N4JO. |
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Re: British electrical plugs
Next up, the Tubes versus Valves discussion -) 73 de Lee KX4TT On Thursday, 28 October 2021, 02:29:23 pm GMT-4, Mike Perry, WA4MP <editor@...> wrote: > On Oct 28, 2021, at 12:20 pm, G3SPL <leepd60@...> wrote: > > Mains cable to the shed?? Yes, good idea, but to be legal it would need to be installed or at least inspected by a qualified electrician.? Even without that G3 call sign, Peter, I¡¯d suspect you were in the UK. ¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP |
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British electrical plugs
On Oct 28, 2021, at 12:20 pm, G3SPL <leepd60@...> wrote: Even without that G3 call sign, Peter, I¡¯d suspect you were in the UK. Why? Because at the regulatory level the British seem to fear electricity far more that we Americans do. We require inspections only for new construction or a major rebuild. Home improvement stores will sell anyone the buried cable to run to a shed. Of course one reason for that is that your main supply is 230 volts while ours is a safer 115. But there are other surprises. I recently watched a UK video that discussed the special plugs used for 5 amp residential circuits. Why bother, I thought, to wire for such a piddling amount? Make all your circuits at least 15 amps and you¡¯ll worry less about blown fuses and tripped breakers. This Wikipedia article leaves me stunned. Why three different-sized plugs for 15, 5 and 2 amps? The purpose seems to be to make it almost impossible to draw more from a circuit than its capacity. But why worry about that, thinks this American. If you draw too much, the breaker will simply trip and no harm will be done. And why the clumsiness of putting the fuse in the plug, as with the huge BS 1363 plug? It¡¯s bigger than many modern devices. Fuse a circuit at the breaker box. The 15 ampere (A) sockets were generally given a dedicated 15 A circuit. Multiple 5 A sockets might be on a 15 A circuit, or each on a dedicated 5 A circuit. Lighting circuits fused at 5 A were generally used to feed the 2 A sockets. Adaptors were available from 15 A down to 5 A and from 5 A down to 2 A so in practice it was possible for an appliance with the smallest size of flex to be protected only by a 15 A fuse. This is a similar level of protection to that seen for portable appliances in other countries, but less than the protection offered by the BS 1363 fused plug.All that seems needlessly complex to us across the water. Except for high-demand circuits such as clothing dryers, we have one type of plug with either two or three compatible pins and don¡¯t see that as a danger. What little danger there was, particularly in bathrooms and kitchens, has been eliminated by GFCIs. And yeah, I am aware that many Brits are sensitive about their electrical plugs and have fond memories of when they were taught in school how to wire a device for one of the many different plugs. We¡¯re never taught that because everything electrical running on 115 volts has the same plug and comes from the store that way. No wiring required. For a spirited defense of British plugs as the best in the world, go here: As I believe Winston Churchill said that the British and Americans are two people separated by a common language. We¡¯re also separated by uncommon electrical plugs. ¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP |
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Re: A remote QDX....
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýThat¡¯s if its a hard wired installation with a ring main in the shed and separate lighting circuits etc ? If a ¡°temporary¡± extension lead into a socket in the house I think it avoids all the installation / inspection issues ? e.g. ? or even ? They come with various length leads and also are safer if the shed develops a leak ? Peter M0PWX ? ? From: G3SPL
Sent: 28 October 2021 17:21 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [QRPLabs] A remote QDX.... ? Mains cable to the shed?? Yes, good idea, but to be legal it would need to be installed or at least inspected by a qualified electrician.? And even with mains power, you still need a data cable to control the QDX (unless you're going to
insulate the shed and put in electric heating so you can operate in it).? No, keeping it low voltage I think is cheaper, easier and safer.? I've already had an idea to put in a power cable separate from the data cable - but feeding 20V DC over it to a local
regulator (13V) to power a QDX...? But, still got to wait for my turn to come up in a future QDX sale scramble! ? |
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Re: QCX PC board spots and mini holes
The small holes are vias. They connect the front and back of the board together using the plating on the sides of the holes, allowing a trace to continue on the other?side. It's sometimes necessary to create a viable route for a signal without needing a jumper wire. On Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 1:57 PM David Wilcox K8WPE via <Djwilcox01=[email protected]> wrote:
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Re: AA Battery Power for QRP Labs gear
The ex equipment gel cells have a "guaranteed" lifetime of 5 years if you look at the manufacturers spec sheets.
Even with little use and just on trickle charge that's about what I see before they go high resistance. You can tell if they are knackered by charging them on trickle and if they feel warm to touch, or the terminal voltage is lower than the trickle charge voltage e.g 13.8v charge, 12.5v terminal volts then throw it away. Been there. Done it. Got the tee shirt. |
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QCX PC board spots and mini holes
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýWhile building one of the first QCXs recently I use a lot of magnification. ?While doing that I saw all these little dots in the ground plane (that don¡¯t go through the board) and even some very small holes not used for part installation. ?I tried to point to them with red lines. Can anyone tell me what they are and what they are for?It took me a long time to find time and true interest to dig into these kits even though I bought them maybe 3 years ago. ?I bought three from Hans at Dayton the first year he was selling them. ?I should have begun sooner as they are a fun build and not difficukt at all. I have followed this email account and learned all of the mistakes others have made. ?Also doing T1 FIRST is the way to go. ?Try fitting it in after all her other parts are installed????? Dave K8WPE since 1960 David J. Wilcox¡¯s iPad,_ |
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QCX PC board spots and mini holes
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýWhile building one of the first QCXs recently I use a lot of magnification. ?While doing that I saw all these little dots in the ground plane (that don¡¯t go through the board) and even some very small holes not used for part installation. ?I tried to point to them with red lines. Can anyone tell me what they are and what they are for?It took me a long time to find time and true interest to dig into these kits even though I bought them maybe 3 years ago. ?I bought three from Hans at Dayton the first year he was selling them. ?I should have begun sooner as they are a fun build and not difficukt at all. I have followed this email account and learned all of the mistakes others have made. ?Also doing T1 FIRST is the way to go. ?Try fitting it in after all her other parts are installed????? Dave K8WPE since 1960 David J. Wilcox¡¯s iPad On Oct 28, 2021, at 7:23 AM, Janez S58J <janez.s58j@...> wrote:
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Re: AA Battery Power for QRP Labs gear
Agreed. Just look at what 1960-era Heathkit tube transceivers sell for. I¡¯m looking at several on eBay in the $450 range. Even the ¡°parts only¡± ones are around $150. But for the collector¡¯s urge, new hams could be purchasing them for under $100. Even an ancient Heathkit GR-91 receiver is $99.99. I owned one. It was my first SW radio¡ªa $40 Christmas present. I know for a fact that no one is buying it for the quality of reception. Heathkit simply took the design for a cheap table radio and extended its coverage into SW.
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That¡¯s why what Hans is doing is wonderful. He¡¯s a one-man Heathkit, creating inexpensive kits that both new and experienced hams can enjoy. ¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP On Oct 28, 2021, at 10:56 am, Julian N4JO <n4jo@...> wrote: |
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Re: A remote QDX....
¿ªÔÆÌåÓýWhy go to all that trouble ? Run a mains cable down to shed, (if need be in a bit of plastic conduit clipped to fence), then no need for battery and control the QDX via a raspberry pi using VNC and wireless networking? ? Peter M0PWX ? ? From: Mike Perry, WA4MP
Sent: 28 October 2021 15:47 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [QRPLabs] A remote QDX.... ? Peter, ? |
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Re: AA Battery Power for QRP Labs gear
I covered this in a recent presentation on Portable Operating - . I have used this with my KX2 successfully. On Sun, Oct 24, 2021 at 4:44 PM Gwen Patton <ardrhi@...> wrote:
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Anthony Luscre K8ZT Ohio Section Section Youth Coordinator & Education Outreach ARRL - The National Association For Amateur Radio? ? The Web Resource Hoarder- K8ZT Radio Website- Amateur Radio Resources for Students/Youth - |
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Re: AA Battery Power for QRP Labs gear
On Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 09:56 AM, Mike Perry, WA4MP wrote:
In much the same fashion, old ham gear can be passed along to new hams. My first ham transmitter in the 1960s cost about $5 as war surplus.Yes, that would be a great idea, but many hams are collectors who get very emotionally attached to their stuff, which keeps resale value absurdly high, keeping such equipment out of reach of newcomers. You only have to look at the preposterous resale value of Morse keys to see this.? ? -- Julian, N4JO. |
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Re: A remote QDX....
How about a Raspberry Pi/Power over Ethernet ("PoE") solution? That would be the Cat's Meow...
One of my future projects is a multi-channel Ethernet connected GUI for QCXs, so I can run my growing stable of them in my shed from my office. Minnesota winters are not "polite", and I can't afford to insulate and heat my shed/shack. Right now I have a couple of extension cables running the 50 ft between the house and the shed, but I'll have to come up with a better solution.? For the QDX, though, a PoE solution would be perfectly adequate, as long as we can keep RF out of the Ethernet wiring. If you don't investigate it, Peter, I will :-) -- Julian, N4JO. |
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Re: A remote QDX....
Peter,
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You¡¯ve hit on a brilliant idea, one that could be expanded still further. Technically, anything that could be handled over an Ethernet cable could probably be handled over the Internet or with a cellular data link. Imagine that you live in the middle of a big city with the accompanying electrical noise and intermod along with no space for an antenna. You could remote your transceiver to somewhere distant where the spectrum is quieter and there¡¯s ample room for a large antennas. That¡¯s already common is astronomy, where someone in the bright lights of a city can rent nights on a quality telescope at a remote mountain top. Best of luck in the next QDX sale. ¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP On Oct 28, 2021, at 10:32 am, G3SPL <leepd60@...> wrote: |
va3rr
Julian N4JO
Lee
Mike Perry, WA4MP
Peter M0PWX
Shirley Dulcey KE1L
Tronald Dump
David Wilcox K8WPE
Anthony Luscre