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Reviews For: West Mountain Radio RIGrunner 4010S

Category: DC Power Supply Distribution

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Review Summary For : West Mountain Radio RIGrunner 4010S
Reviews: 11MSRP: $109.95
Description:
A RIGrunner is the most convenient and safest way to connect all your 12 VDC equipment to a power source. It is a 13.8 VDC power panel that uses the excellent Anderson PowerPole connectors. Standardize all of your 12 VDC connections using the amateur radio ARES & RACES, RSGB, ARRL PowerPole system. The 4010S has one always on "Master" outlet and 9 automatically or manually controlled switched outlets. The switching is done with an FET switch rated at 90 amps max with temperature and over current protection. It has our has unambiguous precision overvoltage and under voltage indicators. An audio alert is selectable for over and/or under voltage or may be disabled.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.westmountainradio.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00113.6
WA4FOM Rating: 2003-10-25
Sweet little device; connectors require patience Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The 4010S is a bit more than your basic Anderson PowerPole distribution strip. It
can be set so that the device plugged into the "master" jack controls the others.
That is, when you turn on the "master" device (presumably the flagship of your
transceiver fleet), it turns DC on to the remaining jacks. As you might expect,
when you decide to turn the flagship off for the night, the remaining jacks lose
DC as well. Yes, it is a convenience feature. Yes, it's cool. No, you don't
really need it (but it is sooooo cool). Yes, you can disable it.

Now, on to my opinions regarding the PowerPole connectors themselves.

FINALLY WE HAVE A STANDARD! No longer will you take your Pride and Joy out to
the Field Day site with your power supply cables terminating in spade lugs, only
to find out that Joe, Jeff, Jim, and Billy-Bob are usng banana connectors. A
moment of silence for the sound accompanying your cables being mercilessly
butchered to adapt them for the Cause. I think the really slick part about the
PowerPole connectors, apart from establishing a standard, is they are not gender-
bound. If you want, you can unplug your rig from the RigRunner strip and snap it
directly into the power supply, if it is PowerPole equipped.

Now for the downside, which prompted me to give this device a 4 out of 5.
These connectors are not easy to assemble without some practice. Once you get
the hang of it, you will be able to saddle up these plugs on the first go.
In my experience, preparing the connectors for the larger wire sizes (#12 or
#10) is tricky. I tried to solder these, but had little luck, especially with
the larger wire. I then shelled out the extra clams for the deluxe crimp tool,
which makes things MUCH easier. I honestly think that the plastic connectors
could have been made just a tiny skosh wider on the inside to more easily
accomodate the larger wire sizes. I understand that this is actually a weak
point of the PowerPole connectors and not the RigRunner itself, but you buy in
to the whole ball of wax when you buy the RigRunner, so I felt I had to give it
just that one tiny black mark. The crimp tool can also be used to crimp the
spade lugs you will likely have to use at the power supply end, so it's not like
the tool is only for PowerPole use. Fortunately, West Mountain Radio has a nice
Web page graphically detailing the best practices for preparing the connectors.
Here's the URL:

http://www.westmountainradio.com/supportrr.htm

I bring up this page every time I begin to assemble a set of these things. I
also recommend the use of a little dot of Crazy Glue to hold the plastic
pieces together. It does contribute quite a bit to the rigidity of the end
assembly. Be careful and be patient; it is really easy to screw up the
preparation, but once you get it, you'll have a nice set of connections.
Oh, by the way, I found a great security blanket in the form of ordering
extra connectors. They're relatively cheap, and you'll be a lot less nervous
knowing that if you botch a connector, you have plenty of spares.

At my station, I have a 4010S and a 4005 mounted on a wooden block which is
fixed to the side of the operating table. The 4010S is connected to the
"main" supply and the 4005 is jacked into a solar-charged marine battery.
At a moment's notice, I can switch any piece of equipment between conventional
power and emergency backup. No more climbing behind the desk with a wrench
fiddling with all that red and black spaghetti. I also recommend the use of
"ID cable ties" at the RigRunner end of each power supply cable. That way,
you know what cable runs to which piece of equipment, and re-cabling between
main and solar power is a snap (no pun intended).

These are just my experiences; yours may vary. In the long run, it's worth
the effort to convert.