TO: ALL WOOD COUNTY ARES MEMBERS (OFFICIAL)
ALL ARES AND NON-ARES AMATEURS ANYWHERE (INFORMATION)
FROM: KEN HARRIS$WA8LLM ARRL DISTRICT 3
EMERGENCY COORDINATOR WOOD COUNTY EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS INC.
WOOD COUNTY ARES BULLETIN NR 18.35 DATE: September 2, 2018
SUBJECT: EXTEND YOUR 12 VOLTS DC
Have you ever wanted to supply 12 Volts to a device temporally that's several feet away, but didn't know how to do it without wiring something special? You can put together a couple units that will allow you to use any regular extension cord without making any modifications. The units can be built using two regular 110 Volt AC plugs, one Male, one Female. The 110 Volt plugs will be wired with an Anderson Power Pole plug attached to them. Added to one, or both, of the AC Plugs is an LED (Light Emitting Diode) to be sure the polarity is correct.
When you need to extend your 12 Volts any distance use a regular 110 Volt Extension Cord. Just plug the special devices into each end of the extension cord and you have an Anderson Power Pole on each end. When using such a device make sure you DO NOT plug the extension cord into any regular 110 Volt outlet.
One thing to think about is how much current does the device you are powering need? The more current the powered device needs, the more voltage drop there will be across the extension cord. Experiments have shown that a device requiring six Amps, using a 50 foot Extension Cord, with Number 10 Wire, will have about 1/2 Volt loss. That means that if your power source is 13.8 Volts, the device on the other end of the extension cord will have about 13.3 Volts. This may not be any problem.
A way of keeping the voltage drop low is to use more than one extension cord in Parallel. For every extension cord you use, you will need a set of these special devices. It's just a quick way to extent your 12 Volts to power some kind of unit.
(Idea for this Bulletin from Bill Davidson, N8JXO)
Ken Harris WA8LLM
WCEC
Wood County WV