Deal on QRP-Labs power plugs
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I¡¯ve always regarded round power plugs with suspicion, since there seems to be so many different sizes. It does appear, however, that the 5.5 x 2.1 size used on QRP-Labs gear is very common. It¡¯s typically used with CCTV equipment, for instance. That makes it easy to find and cheap. I¡¯ve also discovered that a lot of the power supplies, battery packs and the like use it. Standardizing on it seemed to be a good idea. Most of mine use that size. The problem lies with connecting them.
Male to female cables are easily found. Male-to-male ones are less common. Then I hit on the fact that a two-male-to-one-female cable could do that and more and it is common and cheap. It can do male-to-male, female to two-males, and male-to-female. You could even cut the cables apart and get two male plugs and one female plugs from one purchase. That¡¯s when I hit on an ebay seller who sells just that, postage paid inside the U.S. They¡¯re undoubtedly Chinese made but should arrive quickly from California. And the good news is that they¡¯re 99 cents each in quantities of four or more. The store has sold almost 7,000 off them, so they must have happy customers. My order for five came to $5.29 including tax and the free shipping. My hunch is that the price is a loss-leader to sell their other power cabling to CCTV installer. That said, you can¡¯t beat the price. Here is the link. The discount will show up when you check out. ¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP |
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The description and ratings are good. Splicing wires is also easier that fiddling inside plugs and this mixture means you can built any combination and length from it. There is some debate in the comments about the wire gauge, My hunch is that the seller may have issues with its Chinese suppliers.
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The Amazon price tracking at CamelCamelCamel.com shows this item entered the market at nearly $16, quickly dropping to under $10. Since then it has jumped up and down every few months, rising to near $11 briefly and dropping as low as $8.98. ¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP On Nov 7, 2021, at 11:13 am, Mario Vano <mvano@...> wrote: |
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I mentioned getting some barrel connector pigtail cables from Monoprice:??? They are a mere 30 cents each. No free shipping; it's expensive to just get one or a few of these shipped, but if you combine them with a free shipping item the increment is small. I put PowerPoles on the other end, which admittedly cost more than the cable, but that's what the rest of my station power infrastructure is set up for. On Sun, Nov 7, 2021 at 12:55 PM richlim11 via <richlim11=[email protected]> wrote:
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Those who want to avoid playing Amazon roulette might want to try this West Virginia-based vendor. They sell a lot of these plugs to those who install alarm and CCTV systems and don¡¯t want to lose those customers. I imagine they source those plugs in China, but take care to keep the quality up. The problem with Amazon is that it is so blasted big, it doesn¡¯t need to pay much attention to quality. At best, it offers a return policy, but for small orders, a return isn¡¯t worth the hassle.
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I¡¯ve also found that Jex Electronics ships the day I order or the next and, being first-class mail, it arrives quickly. Another problem with Amazon roulette is that you don¡¯t know how quickly an order will ship. I¡¯ve had shipping take as long as a week, particularly on small orders with multiple items. I also worked one summer in the warehouse of an electronics wholesaler. It¡¯s miserable, dull work. I wouldn¡¯t work for Amazon if I could find any other place to work. ¡ªMike Perry, WA4MP On Nov 8, 2021, at 8:43 am, Mario Vano <mvano@...> wrote: |
Mike Perry, WA4MP
Shirley Dulcey KE1L