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Author Topic: Station power requirements  (Read 669 times)

N7ZXJ

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Station power requirements
« on: January 17, 2022, 06:14:43 PM »

I am planning my shack and know the 4 110v 15amp outlets on a single circut will not cut the butter.   So, I was thinking putting a subpanel in the room/Shack.   I have the power to put a 100 amp sub panel ( whick I think would be over kill for my needs) or just a 50 amp sub panel with a several 20 amp outlets on differing breakers.   Being that the new equipment are not the room heaters of yesteryear, do I still need the amps?

I CAN over build, but is the need there?   I am in Alaska and have standby generation.  Just looking for advice and bad advice.
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K1KIM

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2022, 06:39:46 PM »

 3 or 4 dedicated 120V  20A outlets AND 1   220/240V  outlet for that amp you now say you will never need ;D

BTW 110V really doesn't exist in homes any longer.
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N8FVJ

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2022, 06:56:43 PM »

50 amps 240/120 would be sufficient. 30 amps @ 240 volt power for a linear and 2x 20 amp @ 120 volt outlets.
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W4FID

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2022, 07:17:34 PM »

I have 2 4x4 outlet boxes each with 2 duplex 15A outlets and each on its own 20A 120V circuit behind the desks. I also have one 20 A 240 V outlet on its own circuit. The shack also has 120 V outlets for lights, a fan, clock, etc. that were there in the room before it became a ham shack. At one time I had 2 stations - one modern solid state and one boat anchor -- each with a 600 watt linear. Worked very well. Never any voltage drop on anything.
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KF4HR

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2022, 07:56:43 PM »

My experience has been the number of pieces of shack equipment tends to grow over time.  Granted it may end up being overkill but I installed a 100A panel for my shack.  The 100A panel (itself) is relatively inexpensive and of course you don't have to fully populate the panel with breakers unless you find the need to.  My thought was, it's better to have the space for additional circuits if I need them, rather than need them down the road and have to go through the hassle of replacing a smaller panel.   As it turned out, I've added additional 240v circuits for additional amps and other circuits over the years.  My suggestion is to go with a 100A panel.       
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KD6VXI

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2022, 04:04:53 AM »

I put in 20 amp circuits in my shack.  Wired with 3+ground wire so each outlet is a separate circuit.

Be generous with the amount of pmugs.  What you need today is rarely enough for tomorrow.

When I wire my amp outlets I put in 10 gauge wire.  It may still only be 20 amps, but again.....  Future proofing. Nive since acquired a Harris RF103.  It's a 3KVA choke input supply.  Makes legal limit in ANY mode, forever.

So the 10 gauge fed outlet needed a breaker and outlet swap.

Would have been a pain in the area to wire a new outlet.

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI
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K4GTE

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2022, 05:13:10 AM »

Figure your minimum requirements, then double that.
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W9FIB

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2022, 08:53:11 AM »

Since my shack is also my home office. I ran 60A 240/120 to a sub panel. 20A 120V for the office outlets, 2-20A circuits for the shack 120V, and a 30A 240 outlet. My 100A battery backed up DC supply is located near the main panel on its own breaker. (I don't like to have the battery stack in the shack. Plus it is used for emergency lighting for power failures. So that wiring doesn't need to be in the shack either.) I run the DC to 2 rigrunners that handle a min 50A. That way I have 2 zones of DC so 2 stations can operate independently.
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

K3UIM

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2022, 09:26:55 AM »

Jeepers, I'm beginning to feel out in left field with my QRP setup and a 4 twenty amp circuits breaker box. Should I go to a 100 amp box Stan? But, golly, what would I do with all of those empty holes?? Oh, decisions!! Decisions!! No wonder I'm gray and only 87 years old!! ::) ;D ;D
Charlie :'( ;D
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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

KD4UPL

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2022, 04:35:44 PM »

I think most hams, even with a legal limit amp, would be hard pressed to pull more than a 30A 240/120v feed would provide. A big amp needs about 20 amps at 240v all to itself. The rest of your computer, accessories, and smaller radios would probably run just fine on a 120v 20 amp circuit but 2 is even better. Most any panel you buy, even a small 6 space, will likely be rated at 100 amps or even 125 amps. The problem is the wire you need to run to actually carry that much load.
If you haven't bought electrical wire lately it's roughly 3 times more expensive than it was one year ago. I'm an electrical contractor and I track my purchase price on every roll of wire I buy. Where a few years ago upgrading a 30 amp feed to 100 amps may have been financially reasonably it might now cost you several hundred or even a thousand dollars (depending on the length) to make that upgrade.
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AA4PB

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2022, 05:14:29 PM »

Depending on the run length, it may be less expensive to make two runs of 12/2 w gnd, one for a dedicated 120V, 20A circuit (for radio and accessories) and one for a 240V, 20A circuit (for an amp). The 13.8V power supply for a 100W radio will draw less than 2.5A on peaks so it should handle accessories and a reasonable amount of light.

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Bob  AA4PB
Garrisonville, VA

W9FIB

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #11 on: January 19, 2022, 05:58:28 AM »

Jeepers, I'm beginning to feel out in left field with my QRP setup and a 4 twenty amp circuits breaker box. Should I go to a 100 amp box Stan? But, golly, what would I do with all of those empty holes?? Oh, decisions!! Decisions!! No wonder I'm gray and only 87 years old!! ::) ;D ;D
Charlie :'( ;D

Hi Charlie,

After my house fire in 2015, all the walls were stripped of drywall and open. So I took the opportunity to separate outlets in a sub panel. As others have said, it may be overkill, but I would rather have too much then not enough. It is not meant to be a standard, however if I had to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing.

I also like the sub panel in the shack so if I ever trip a breaker, I don't have far to go to reset it.

Nothing wrong with any installation unless you overload it, or cheat by using breakers too big for the wire size, or otherwise break the local electrical code.
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

K3UIM

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2022, 07:00:22 AM »

When we bought this place, (close to 60 years ago,) the first thing I did was rewire from 4 fuses to a 100 amp box. I couldn't believe it still had a lot of knob and tube wiring. There were several 20's and a 30 amp fuse setting on top of the fuse box! Sheesh!! Hi.
Charlie
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Charlie. K3UIM
Where you are: I was!
Where I am: You will be!
So be nice to us old fogies!!

W9FIB

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #13 on: January 20, 2022, 07:26:58 AM »

When we bought this place, (close to 60 years ago,) the first thing I did was rewire from 4 fuses to a 100 amp box. I couldn't believe it still had a lot of knob and tube wiring. There were several 20's and a 30 amp fuse setting on top of the fuse box! Sheesh!! Hi.
Charlie

Yea I have cleaned up several 4 fuse messes in my time. You would be surprised how many old farm houses in my area that have never been upgraded. I had a knob and tube wire that fed power from the basement to the attic. I left it there in the wall after I abandoned it for power and tried loading it as a vertical. Not very good. Seemed to pick up too much noise from inside the house.
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73, Stan
Travelling the world one signal at a time.

KH6AQ

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Re: Station power requirements
« Reply #14 on: January 20, 2022, 05:52:18 PM »

Unless you plan on multi-transmitter contesting I think one 240 VAC outlet and the code-required number of 120 VAC (but 20A) outlets will do the job.

I had the usual number of 120VAC, 15A outlets and one 20A outlet and think I'm going to regret it. I am planning on upgrading to a 1200W amp and will have to pay for 240 VAC service in the shack. 
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