"MrRas" wrote in message
...

Hi all,

I've decided to do something that I've wanted to do for a long time, and
that is to get my ham license. I've got the book and I'm reading up. I'm
signed up for a test in December. I'm pretty excited. But I've been
looking around just "window shopping" for components to build a radio in
the coming months. I have a probably really basic question. How do you
power the radio itself? I have a scanner, and I know that it came with a
wallplug, but when I'm looking around at radios I don't see any mention
of this.

example; I look at a radio and it says "power; supplied DC power adapter
13.8v" or something to that effect.

How do I run this thing indoors? I don't want to run this in my car. I
know it can be done, but how? I'm just not sure of the name of the thing
that lets me go from wall plug -- radio. Once I get that, I'll be good.
I've searched sites like radioshack for things like "power adapter"
"radio power supply" to no avail. I live in a place with out many shops
so my main shopping will be done online unfortunately.

Thanks for any help.

Most transceivers now do not have built in power supplies. They are
designed to operate on what most people just say 12 volts. This is just a
nominal value. They are really made to operate best around 13.8 volts.
That is the nominal value a car electrical system has when the motor is
running.

It depends on how much power the transceiver you want to get as to the power
supply you will need. The Astron brand is good. I have a 50 amp supply I
have used for 15 years without any problems. It is the analog type and not
the switching kind. The basic design goes way back over 30 years. Very
simple and almost fool proof. For most people I think a 35 amp supply is
the best for the money. It will power most of the so called 100 watt output
transceivers. That 35 amps is the most it can supply. You can always use
devices that pull less current. Just like a 120 volt socket in your house.
It does not mater what you plug into the 120 volt socket, the device will
only take wht current it needs if it is rated for 120 volts. You only get
into trouble if you have several devices that take more current. With my
50 amp supply I have several transceivers hooked up to it that draw a lot
of current on transmitt. As long as I only transmitt with one at a time, it
will handle the currrent just fine.

Here is a link to the Astron site.

http://www.astroncorp.com/showpage.asp?p=2

I like the RS-A series. The RS-35A is what I would recommend to most new
hams.

I guess that you know you can go to www.qrz.com and take some practice
tests. When you get to the 90% mark you should be ready for the real test.