The Anderson Power Products Company makes a family of electrical connectors with the registered trademark name of Powerpole®.  Now that we have established that, we’ll skip the ® symbol from now on.

Powerpole connectors come in several sizes and colors.  Housing size depends on current rating, from 15A  up to monstrous 350A and supporting wire sizes from 20AWG wire up to heavy 3/0 cable using different connector contacts.

Hams in the US, and particularly within EmComm groups such as ARES, have adopted the 15-45A  Powerpole product as the de facto standard for 12VDC  power interconnect for amateur radio equipment.  These connectors are gaining popularity world-wide as well, so you will see more and more usage of this flavor of Powerpole connector being used everywhere.

Besides the convenience of a high-current quick-connect, having a standard means one ham’s equipment can be plugged into another’s  power source.  This is particularly important in emergency communication situations.  Additionally, a standard drives greater availability of commercial products that support it.

One reason Powerpole connectors are growing in popularity is that they have some unique advantages over other electrical connectors: Continue reading →