[TowerTalk] PowerPole connectors

[Jim Lux]

On 11/17/14, 12:47 PM, Bill Turner wrote:
> ------------ ORIGINAL MESSAGE ------------(may be snipped)
>
> On Mon, 17 Nov 2014 11:13:18 -0800, Thomas wrote:
>
>>
>> What happens if I bring a piece of equipment to your shack/Field Day Op or you bring one to mine?
>>
>> The Emcomm world has pretty much standardized on PP with an agreed polarity just for this reason  —  everything works everywhere.
>
> REPLY:
>
> I'm not against standardization, I just don't think PP is the best
> answer, mainly because they are proprietary and overpriced.


Proprietary is an issue.. you can't just run down to the local auto 
parts store and buy them.

In small quantities, 1 pair of connectors (1 red housing, 1 black house, 
roll pin, 2 contacts) runs $1.  In 100 qty, it's more like $0.70.

StaKon ring lugs from #8 screws are 66.45/100 from Grainger for the blue 
AWG 12-14, that's $0.66 each.  So to wire up two wires, it would be 
$1.32, which is *more* than the power pole.

Digikey is a bit cheaper for uninsulated ones from AMP, at least in that 
sort of quantity.   I'm sure you can find even cheaper ones on alibaba, 
especially if you're willing to take a container load<grin>.

Or, you can haunt the surplus places and find them, but that's not 
really an apples to apples comparison.


And you need to have multiple sizes of ring lugs for different wire sizes.


 From a mate/demate time standpoint, the powerpoles win hands down.  1 
second would be doing it slowly.

Spade lug and captive screws on a terminal strip with a power 
screwdriver might be able to do a wire in a few seconds.

Ring lugs, with a hand screwdriver, standing on a ladder or tower, and 
you drop the screw?


I think that the various crimp/solder lugs are all about the same 
assembly time.  Once you've done a few, they're fast.  It's mostly about 
the wire prep: get the strip length right, mostly; and that applies for 
all the lugs or connections.




  If they
> become generic and available everywhere cheaply I might change my
> mind. Until then, ordinary crimp terminals do the job just fine.
>


That is the sole reason I can see to not use PP.  And I have had to cut 
power poles off and use an alternate strategy (twist wires and tape, as 
it happened).  But that's because I had no tools and no supplies.  If I 
had even my smallest collection of tools, there's a bunch of PP housings 
and pins down in the bottom of the tote that have fallen out of the bag 
that could be pressed into service.