[aprssig] Re: APRS Standard Connectors?

[Chris Kantarjiev]

Standard connectors? To what? From what?

There doesn't seem to be any hope of a standard connector set at the
radio end; I've given up on that. When I modify an old radio to 
bring connections out, I use the Kantronics DB-9 'standard'. 
That's very convenient because the OpenTracker/TinyTrak world
has adopted it. Put the cap/resistor network for your HT's PTT in
the DB-9 shell so you can eventually connect another radio to
the device without having to restore the missing resistor.

At the GPS end, I use a DB9 again. The OT/TT folks put +12V on pin
4.  I needed +5, didn't want the chance of misconnecting and didn't
want to count on putting a regulator in the device's shell, so I
put +5V on pin 8. I declare that the new APRS standard. :-) 

For random power connections, I use PowerPoles. But Anderson doesn't
really supply a very good solution for chassis mounting them, which
still boggles my mind. (You can get pairs, or quads, but a single
connection requires a whole lot of fiddling to do well with the
little retainer plates.) Not to mention that they're not particularly
robust or dustproof. I liked the Molex 'standard' power connector
better.

The coaxial power connectors are fairly horrible if you need 
more than 1A; some of them are rated at 0.5A. That's not
very much power (not even enough to transmit 5W). Someone already
mentioned the problem with shorting during connect/disconnect.

The great thing about standards is that there are so many to 
choose from.

73 de chris K6DBG