If you are new to radio, hopefully this will be helpful information for getting the most out of your radio.
Normally, when I install a radio in one of my vehicles, I cut off all the connectors and run my own lines from the battery to the radio. Occasionally, my GMRS radio gets moves between 2 vehicles, so I left the factory T connector on it. Turns out, that was a big mistake for performance.
I had a few people tell me that my signal would be very good for a second and then rapidly drop to a weak signal. I ran a field strength test and the voltage would peak at 77.5 V/m on initial key, and almost instantly drop to 65.7 V/m. That is a huge drop.
Knowing what to look for, I measured the power from the battery on the cold side of the T connector and it was 14.0v while on stand-by. However, when I key up, the voltage dropped to 12.4v. A couple of times, it dropped to 12.1v. On the hot side of the connector, there was only 0.25v drop on key-up.
I cut the T connector off and soldered in some Power Pole connectors, which have more surface area and much higher spring tension. Now, I only have 0.25v drop on the input of the radio and my field strength is holding steady at 77.5 V/m while transmitting.
To give you an idea of how much drop that is in usable power, it is the equivalent of changing your antenna feed from about 37 watts to 50 watts (assuming an antenna with no gain and 100% antenna efficiency). So, if you want to get the most out of your radio, ditch your glass fuses (weak squeeze connector) for a blade fuse and replace your factory T connector with either a fully soldered connection or a high quality Power Pole style connector.
Note: I could resolve the 0.25v drop if I run a larger diameter power and ground cables... but it's not worth the effort for my application.
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marcspaz
If you are new to radio, hopefully this will be helpful information for getting the most out of your radio.
Normally, when I install a radio in one of my vehicles, I cut off all the connectors and run my own lines from the battery to the radio. Occasionally, my GMRS radio gets moves between 2 vehicles, so I left the factory T connector on it. Turns out, that was a big mistake for performance.
I had a few people tell me that my signal would be very good for a second and then rapidly drop to a weak signal. I ran a field strength test and the voltage would peak at 77.5 V/m on initial key, and almost instantly drop to 65.7 V/m. That is a huge drop.
Knowing what to look for, I measured the power from the battery on the cold side of the T connector and it was 14.0v while on stand-by. However, when I key up, the voltage dropped to 12.4v. A couple of times, it dropped to 12.1v. On the hot side of the connector, there was only 0.25v drop on key-up.
I cut the T connector off and soldered in some Power Pole connectors, which have more surface area and much higher spring tension. Now, I only have 0.25v drop on the input of the radio and my field strength is holding steady at 77.5 V/m while transmitting.
To give you an idea of how much drop that is in usable power, it is the equivalent of changing your antenna feed from about 37 watts to 50 watts (assuming an antenna with no gain and 100% antenna efficiency). So, if you want to get the most out of your radio, ditch your glass fuses (weak squeeze connector) for a blade fuse and replace your factory T connector with either a fully soldered connection or a high quality Power Pole style connector.
Note: I could resolve the 0.25v drop if I run a larger diameter power and ground cables... but it's not worth the effort for my application.
Hope this helps.
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