12v Bench power

I am laid up with a cast and can't build so I want to mess with my ICOM 210 and bench test the radio. I am thinking a 12v battery from a riding mower that is hooked up to a charger. I would hook up the radio to the battery with the required fuses. Does this seem like a good way to go? Any ideas and thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers

My hangar radio (Icom A-200) runs off a 13.8 V REGULATED power supply similar to this one. It is a home made setup and not a purchased based station.

http://www.etronics.com/p-23881-pyr...2v-5amp-power-supply-w-cigarette-adapter.aspx

Make sure that it is REGULATED and that it is capable of the current needed to run the radio transmitter. MORE capacity (higher amperage) is better than less. (But not too much as it gets more expensive.)

Mike, a fully charged mower battery should not be a problem. You probably wont need the charger too. The current draw is pretty low in receive, and you probably wont be doing a lot of transmitting I suspect.

I am not sure about modern solid state radios, but transmitting without an antenna attached used to be a big nono.

You can get an AC/DC inverter at radio shack (http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...origkw=inverter&kw=inverter&parentPage=search) and plug it into the wall.

I recall reading somewhere that hitting transmit without an antenna attached can fry your radio. Electronics gurus please chime in.

Please don't do it!

jmartinez443 said:

I recall reading somewhere that hitting transmit without and antenna attached you can fry your radio. Electronics gurus please chime in.

Click to expand...

It depends entirely on how the final amplifier is coupled. But there is no reason to ever key the transmitter without the antenna loaded. Just don't take the chance.