What did you do in the shack today?

[timbo]

Worked a bit of RTTY in a contest last weekend....I haven't worked RTTY in decades...I got into it pretty deep back in the 80's with my TS-520S, a homebrew mod/demodulator that I built from plans that were in a 73 magazine and a TRS-model III....that thing (TRS) was a terrible RF noise generator but I was able to knock a lot of it down by judicious internal shielding and bypassing and ferrites.

Now in 2024, I've moved "up" as it were. I was using my 590SG, a computer (much quieter these days) and Ham Radio Deluxe/DM780 and made about 25 contacts.

 

[PistolShooter]

Just got my technician/general last week and slowly setting up a shack and mobile solution. Running a Yaesu FT-710 and a G5RV at home. Not loving the G5RV since I don’t have an easy way to get the ladder line vertical, right now it slopes into a side window until I figure out a more permanent way. Already made contacts all around the US. Enjoying the hobby a lot so far.

In the truck I have a Yaesu FTM-500DR and just a mag mount antenna for now. In my limited experience HT is a lot more fun and debating grabbing a Yaesu 891 and the ATAS 120A for the truck…

 

[n1oty]

Just got my technician/general last week and slowly setting up a shack and mobile solution. Running a Yaesu FT-710 and a G5RV at home. Not loving the G5RV since I don’t have an easy way to get the ladder line vertical, right now it slopes into a side window until I figure out a more permanent way. Already made contacts all around the US. Enjoying the hobby a lot so far.

In the truck I have a Yaesu FTM-500DR and just a mag mount antenna for now. In my limited experience HT is a lot more fun and debating grabbing a Yaesu 891 and the ATAS 120A for the truck…

I run Kenwood HF radios whenever possible, but Kenwood does not currently have a nice HF mobile in the lineup. That prompted me to add the Yaesu FT-891 into my truck with the remote mount head separation. It is a phenomenal little radio for the mobile HF environment. I briefly ran the ATAS-120A and was decidedly UNDERWHELMED by it's performance. It's OK, at best, for 6 and 10 meters, but sucks on every other band. The coil is just not big enough in diameter to be truly effective at 15 meters and below. I quickly replaced the ATAS with a Scorpion screwdriver antenna and haven't looked back.

The Scorpion is not for everyone, except for the most serious mobile operator, and it requires very sturdy mounting. If you want to save money and weight, but have something better than the ATAS antenna, I'd suggest looking at the various Tarheel antennas or something similar. The larger diameter coils will help better with 15 meters and below.

If you are dead set on an ATAS-120A, I have a lightly used, working one that I just put up for sale. $200 with a spare whip.

 

[ToddDubya]

Just got my technician/general last week and slowly setting up a shack and mobile solution. Running a Yaesu FT-710 and a G5RV at home. Not loving the G5RV since I don’t have an easy way to get the ladder line vertical, right now it slopes into a side window until I figure out a more permanent way. Already made contacts all around the US. Enjoying the hobby a lot so far.

In the truck I have a Yaesu FTM-500DR and just a mag mount antenna for now. In my limited experience HT is a lot more fun and debating grabbing a Yaesu 891 and the ATAS 120A for the truck…

I read that about 5x and still thought you said FT-70, which is an HT. I wondered what you thought you were doing with a G5RV, but the FT-710 makes a lot more sense.

Solid choice with the 891. I'm not a mobile operator, but I'm probably 75% portable. I have a Yaesu 857D and if I had to buy something today it'd be an 891. I almost bought one recently just because. I don't think you can go wrong with one.

 

[ToddDubya]

I just ordered the QRP-Labs QMX kit in 10-20m. It's probably going to take a while to get here because my friend wanted one too, but he wanted it assembled and the GPS which is back ordered. It'll be a surprise when we actually get them.

Holy crap, I didn't see the wait list before I ordered. There are almost 800 orders on the list, and they build 25/wk. Looks like Merry Christmas.

That'll be okay anyway. Part of my reason to order one was so that the universe would make an Elecraft KX2 available to me. That's how that works: you give up looking for one thing and buy something else, and the first thing presents itself.

 

[ToddDubya]

I hiked up into the woods today and tried CW on 6, 10, 12, 15, 17, and 20. What a disappointment. Probably the only band that would be any good today would have been 20m, and I couldn't get my whip/counterpoise resonant within the band. Too short. I basically spent a few hours setting up for a different band, calling CQ, setting up for another band, ...

The saving grace was that over half of my QSOs were DX.

It could have been a nice day. It was in the 40s, not raining, not snowing, but just whipping wind. Since I got home it seems to be picking up, too.

So this wasn't a terrible spread. I was hoping for more because for once I wasn't pressed for time and it wasn't snowing/raining. But it is what it is.

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

Right now in the shack I'm procrastinating having to change cabling around so I can put the AL-1500 amp in line for the CQ WPX SSB contest, which started 20 minutes ago. I did the ARRL DX contest a couple weeks ago, it was actually the first time I have done a phone contest in quite some time, and while 100 Watts was OK, 1500 Watts would be better.

Honestly I hardly ever drive it past 1kW and seeing as how I have not even powered it on in a long time I am going to be extra conservative.

I like the WPX contest with its prefix multiplier. I have a 2x1 call so being one of only 26 possible multipliers makes me a desirable rarity (at least in my own mind )

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

I spent the evening moving equipment, rearranging coax cables and switches, and fabricating a couple DC power cables for accessories. All the time thinking, "I am making good progress here and having fun, I like the way this is coming together."

Well I kind of out smarted myself because when I got to the very last connection, my FTDX10 to the amp relay buffer ARB-704, I realized the radio which I bought last year and had not tried to hookup to the amp does not have a phone type relay jack like my old Icom IC-756ProIII.

The FTDX10 use a pin 2 of a 10 pin mini din socket on the radio. Now it is possible I have a 10 pin mini din plug around here somewhere that I can salvage and connect to a phono plug, but not tonight.

Oh well I got everything set up, I will build or buy a cable for the ARB-704 and be good to go next time.

Here is the amplifier cart, which is a rolling butcher block cart from the Mill Stores location in Nashua, remember them they closed about 10 years ago.
On it is an AL-1500 amp (EIMAC 3CX1500A7/8877 version bought new early-mid 2000's), Palstar DL2K dummy load, Palstar (Kessler) AT-Auto tuner, Ameritron ARB-704 relay, and a couple Alpha Delta 4B antenna switches.

Also kind of bummed to find out that the meter lamp on my DL2K is not working, but the meter is fine and the fan (DC 1.2A) is working so not a deal breaker.

 

[ToddDubya]

Right now in the shack I'm procrastinating having to change cabling around so I can put the AL-1500 amp in line for the CQ WPX SSB contest, which started 20 minutes ago. I did the ARRL DX contest a couple weeks ago, it was actually the first time I have done a phone contest in quite some time, and while 100 Watts was OK, 1500 Watts would be better.

Honestly I hardly ever drive it past 1kW and seeing as how I have not even powered it on in a long time I am going to be extra conservative.

I like the WPX contest with its prefix multiplier. I have a 2x1 call so being one of only 26 possible multipliers makes me a desirable rarity (at least in my own mind )

My buddy just sent me this. 10m is hot fire for this contest.

I always love when he sends a picture at the end of a contest. It's like someone just unplugged the ionosphere.

 

[UJay]

I spent the evening moving equipment, rearranging coax cables and switches, and fabricating a couple DC power cables for accessories. All the time thinking, "I am making good progress here and having fun, I like the way this is coming together."

Well I kind of out smarted myself because when I got to the very last connection, my FTDX10 to the amp relay buffer ARB-704, I realized the radio which I bought last year and had not tried to hookup to the amp does not have a phone type relay jack like my old Icom IC-756ProIII.

The FTDX10 use a pin 2 of a 10 pin mini din socket on the radio. Now it is possible I have a 10 pin mini din plug around here somewhere that I can salvage and connect to a phono plug, but not tonight.

Oh well I got everything set up, I will build or buy a cable for the ARB-704 and be good to go next time.

Here is the amplifier cart, which is a rolling butcher block cart from the Mill Stores location in Nashua, remember them they closed about 10 years ago.
On it is an AL-1500 amp (EIMAC 3CX1500A7/8877 version bought new early-mid 2000's), Palstar DL2K dummy load, Palstar (Kessler) AT-Auto tuner, Ameritron ARB-704 relay, and a couple Alpha Delta 4B antenna switches.

Also kind of bummed to find out that the meter lamp on my DL2K is not working, but the meter is fine and the fan (DC 1.2A) is working so not a deal breaker.

that is a FB shack,OM!

Could you use a footswitch or something and wire something in parallel to the mic input PTT?

UJay

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

that is a FB shack,OM!

Thank you!
I would actually like to have a solid state option for an amp. But I am pleased to have what I do have, it replaced an AL-80B, and it turns out it was a good investment 20 years ago. The AL-1500 is not available right now, but in recent years new ones were selling for $6,000 with only an imported tube.

Pro Tip - Folks may notice the return reference marks for settings on the amp in the photo above. They are Post-It document flags which stick to the surface with decent adhesion and no lasting residue. Trim them to the size you need then stick them on to color coordinate band switch, plate, and load control setting for quick return.

Could you use a footswitch or something and wire something in parallel to the mic input PTT?

Funny you should say that because I do have a footswitch, and it is one of the old style Heil model FS-2 dual switching (amp relay then mic). It is what I ended up using, and even though it was sitting right there under my desk I had forgotten about the relay cable as I never used it and it was zip-tied into a bundle. It works fine but unfortunately the way the shack is arranged the cable is not long enough to put it where I want it so I have to sit kind of awkwardly to operate it.

It is working for today and that is cool, but I mostly operate CW and RTTY so switching from the radio is ultimately where I need to be anyway.

The footswitch itself is built like a tank, but the kick drum style motion can be a bit awkward to engage, tiring over time, and it tends to slide forward on hard surfaces. I actually have it sitting on a computer mouse pad on the floor now to try and keep it from moving.

I do like the precision of using a footswitch during contests as opposed to VOX and I am tempted to try Heil's newer more compact switch the FS-3 that hinges the opposite way.

I also sometimes use the PTT switch that came with my Heil Pro 7 headset. It has a large and really sturdy clothing clip on the back, but unfortunately it is none removable. I have converted it for desk use by dropping it into a stand that I 3D printed.

 

[ToddDubya]

I was gonna comment on those stickers. Clever.

 

[ToddDubya]

I stopped off real quick in nature before I continued my drive to nature. 17m, 5w and most of my QSOs were on the east coast except for the west coast of Oregon and then France. I was not mad at this setup.

Today's shack...



Battery in pocket, QCX Mini on left knee, notepad on right knee, paddle in left hand, good times. This was basically my dream of pulling over, walking into the woods, and making contacts. The hype behind that BaMaTech paddle is 100% legit. It's so nice. I can't say for sure but I think it has some autocorrect capabilities.

This is where I was parked. Good thing there aren't any cops in VT because I'm pretty sure this area is for QRO ops only and I was running QRP.



Last but not least, I found this gem near the 73 sign. Who knew you could get moonshine nips?

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

In the end I really did not spend as much time ham operating as I did tinkering with cables, stopping to work on a rifle build, and napping.

But two highlights of getting the amp in line where working E2A (Thailand) on my first call amongst numerous callers I could hear. Then finding YE1GXQ (Indonesia) calling in the clear and previously unspotted on the cluster, I worked him then spotted him and sat back to listen to the slight pileup that created for him.

Both those contacts were on 15 meters, and the amp was peaking a solid 1250 Watts out from 45 Watts drive.

 

[ToddDubya]

My goal of buying a used Elecraft KX2 so I don't have to wait 16+ weeks for a new one is turning into a 16+ week wait for a used one to cross my path. So what to do?

So I ordered a Xiegu x5105. It's their older radio, but not plagued with bugs like the 6100 (or likely the 6200 when it comes out). It fits all of my requirements that drove me toward the KX2: all band, all mode (actually don't care so much about that, just want CW), internal battery, internal ATU, small form factor.

I looked at the 6100 as well, and considered waiting for the 6200, but a lot of the reviews I read/watched steered me back to the 5105.

The Icom 705 was also high on my list, but no ATU and it's fairly bulky. No doubt it's a fine rig; it just didn't fill the niche like I wanted.

I'm not one to sell anything, but maybe once a KX2 graces my bench I'll consider parting with this.

Now I'm gonna need a dial to spin to help select a radio when I'm headed out into the field. This is a good problem to have.

 

[ToddDubya]

I went up onto a mountain to work 17m today after work. Probably a bad choice of bands for the afternoon. It would have been late in Europe and early on the west coast, so I spent a lot of time calling and not a lot of time hearing anyone.

The snow meant the picnic table I usually use would be wet, and it was. But I wasn't expecting the bunks in the shelter to be wet too. And I definitely wasn't expecting a mad ass chipmunk to be in there trying to run me off. I think I spent more focus keeping an eye on Chippy than I did on the radio. It must have had a nest because it would go all the way to the open end of the shelter, stare at me and then give up and go back to where it was hiding instead of just leaving. All I could think of was the rabbit scene from Monty Python.

Along the (closed) dirt road to the trail. Looks like snowmobilers were happy with the recent snowfall. I wasn't. This is the third time everything melted only to be covered in snow again. Up here they must have had freezing rain first, then heavy snow. A lot of trees down in the woods.

 

[PistolShooter]

Today I buried 100' of coax to get to my tree line and hung a Cobra UltraLite Junior. Probably only have it up 20', need to fashion a launcher to get it up higher.

 

[Parker Duofold]

I had a tree taken down in my backyard yesterday. After the crew was finished I had them put a big screw eye and pulley about 50 feet up in a pine tree. I'm in the process of moving my inverted vee to the higher spot.

 

[PistolShooter]

I had a tree taken down in my backyard yesterday. After the crew was finished I had them put a big screw eye and pulley about 50 feet up in a pine tree. I'm in the process of moving my inverted vee to the higher spot.
View attachment 870121

I’ve never looked forward to tree work I need to have done until very recently getting into ham.

 

[ToddDubya]

Today I buried 100' of coax to get to my tree line and hung a Cobra UltraLite Junior. Probably only have it up 20', need to fashion a launcher to get it up higher.

Your ground isn't frozen?

Are you running an external tuner? That antenna is fed with window line, right?

I use an arborist throw line that'll get me 40+ feet up without too much trouble. If I don't have any obstructions it's much easier because a shallower angle is much easier than almost straight up. A friend of mine just got a slingshot style launcher and is pleased with it. DX says to check to make sure it's legal in your area but will ship it to you. Legality of slingshots in MA is an eternal debate, so there's that.

My Xiegu was expected to be delivered this coming Thursday, but I checked on the status this morning and it's at my local post office. So unless all hell breaks loose with that eclipse, maybe I'll have it tomorrow. I'm kind of psyched for this thing.

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

Today in the shack I submitted a log for the SP DX contest. Just 41 contacts in mixed mode, a few last night and a few this morning when I had time.

The thing of note for me however was the sophisticated log submission page the organizers website used.

First time I have ever seen drag and drop your Cabrillo log file onto their page, and the processing was almost instantaneous.

Very slick them Sugar Papa boys.

 

[PistolShooter]

Ground is soft with all the rain where I am in MA. Just used an edger and lifted up the grass and slipped the coax underneath. Someday maybe I’ll do conduit where it’s easier to replace/swap, but this is a start. I have an arborist through but apparently not the arm for it, might need to look into the launcher or try the fishing pole/weight trick.

 

[ToddDubya]

My Xiegu X5105 arrived today. I gotta admit I'm impressed with the feature set and build quality. It's a bit heavier than I expected, but it feels very solid/sturdy. The manual could use some help, but it's not horrible if you're already familiar with standard features on a transceiver. They must have updated it because older reviews really bashed the manual.

Someone pointed out in a review that there's some hiss on the audio that's always there. I might not have noticed it otherwise, but it's definitely there. You can even hear it when it's charging because it must stay in some quasi-powered state. If I put my thumb over the speaker it mostly disappears, and a small piece of painter's tape seems to cure it. Once there's actually something to listen to I doubt it'll be an issue at all.

My only other complaint so far is the battery percent appears to be the battery voltage/12. So when it says 83%, it's almost dead. You can change it to battery voltage and then just know at around 10.2v it'll die. So that solves that. It has a hella slow charge, like 10-12 hours. That's not much different from the FT-817/818 charge time, but it does mean you can't just top it off real quick before you go out. But from what I've seen you get 3-4 hours of run time on CW and probably more on SSB, so that'll be nice.

Display, backlight, contrast are all excellent. The buttons are backlit as well, which will be very nice in low light situations. They are "soft" buttons, but do have a click when pressed. I like them. Everything including the VFO encoder are low profile.

Settings are mostly available from the buttons on the front/top, with some in menus but the menus are terribly deep. Deepest settings are things like CW memories (there are 10, but not super accessible other than one at a time), your callsign, etc.

It's a superhet receiver plus SDR, so you get some nice filter capabilities, receive audio EQ, and standard fare compression and audio settings on TX. And I think there are two sets of settings: one for the external mic and one for the internal mic. I'm not sure how much I'll mess with that, but maybe. I don't know why but I'm dying to try the internal mic. I've heard it's decent.

I just played with the keyer a little bit and it works like I expect. No shenanigans like my Mountain Topper (which is flawless with the single lever paddle, BTW).

So that's my initial review. I really wasn't sure what to expect from a Chinese transceiver, but so far so good. Obviously the proof is in the pudding so I gotta get this bad boy on the air. And I need to find a bag/case for bringing it out into the field. My other QRP rigs have nice compact cases and I really like that. This rig, a random wire, a key/paddle, and a notepad and I'm in business.

 

[ToddDubya]

Well I got the X5105 out for its inaugural run and made a few contacts. It was not as warm out as I remembered from noontime.

The bad:

• It was cold
• Hunched over a folding stool with everything on my lap
• I was near a loud ass waterfall and couldn't hear well
• I couldn't figure out the memory keyer
  • After some more digging, you set the DIGI mode to CWDEM which decodes incoming CW. You have to send messages from within that screen as opposed to sending them from the main operator screen. I don't like that. That means your meters (SWR, Power, S-meter) can't be viewed if you want to use the memory keyer.

The good:

• I was in the woods near a waterfall
• Everything I needed fit on my lap
• The tuner had no trouble tuning the random wire (35' w/17' counterpoise) on 20m. I planned to try other bands, but I got really cold. I expect it'll work on 40-6 but we'll see.
• No coax needed
• New toy

Pro tip: 0.1 watt is probably not enough. Although it would be fun to try on purpose some time.

Once I remembered I had turned the power down earlier, I set it on full blast and 5 watts made the difference. There's actually a power out meter right on the display that would have helped see where I went wrong, so I'll know to look for that in the future.

20m CW for 23 minutes...



That one station in MA is actually in FL. His home QTH is MA, which is what my logger uses.

 

[Coyote33]

It was not as warm out as I remembered from noontime.

Yeah, the sun "went in".

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

What did I do in the shack today? Well I read this guy's mischaracterization of LoTW.

VK9DX - LoTW is paid-for service run by ARRL. Over the years I have uploaded more than 200,000 QSOs to LoTW database from numerous DXpeditions, free of charge. I have also uploaded 14,000 VK9DX QSOs, at no cost to fellow amateurs. However this data is sold to users and this is how LoTW makes money.

I would rather not participate in LoTW programme. It makes no sense to use my personal resources in order to create and upload data to LoTW which is then used on commercial basis. More over, the LoTW does not provide a mechanism for data deletion or editing.

Of course, I do understand that you may prefer LoTW because it saves you time and effort. It saves you money you would otherwise have to spend mailing a paper card both ways; and it also saves you time and money to have a paper card sent to QSL card checker. However, to expect and even demand that I upload every contact to LoTW because it suits you makes no sense.

I will continue to upload contacts to LoTW for FREE every now and then but if you are in a hurry, and have no time to wait, or simply wish to thank me for a contact with request for LoTW upload then please PayPal USD$5 (EUR 5) to [email protected] Note: please make sure to include your callsign with PayPal payment. Once payment is received, all contacts in the log will be uploaded together, in one go. Please allow bit of time to process your request.

LoTW is not a "Paid-for service" and the call data uploaded is not "Used on commercial basis."

The ARRL is an advocate organization, not a commercial enterprise, and the only fees associated with LoTW are for award credit submissions. And I have got news for this guy, the same fees were involved for paper QSL cards except it was more of a time consuming hassle for everyone involved.

Some people like putting certificates on the wall and that is cool, but everyone understands there is a fee associated to support the organization. Everyone except for this guy apparently.

I do have DXCC on the wall here but that is it as I was not otherwise interested. For my part I just like collecting the confirmations and LoTW makes that easy. I still do have postage credit with the incoming W1 bureau, but because I no longer send out cards the incoming has fallen to a trickly every five or six months (which I reply to directly out of politeness).

But this guy after complaining that the ARRL and LoTW are "commercial" he then goes on to ask people for $5 to upload a contact to that same LoTW.

I have not worked this guy, I just heard him on the air and looked up his QRZ page, after reading it I decided then and there not to give him a call.

VK9DX Callsign Page

VK9DX personal biography

www.qrz.com

 

[UJay]

What did I do in the shack today? Well I read this guy's mischaracterization of LoTW.



LoTW is not a "Paid-for service" and the call data uploaded is not "Used on commercial basis."

The ARRL is an advocate organization, not a commercial enterprise, and the only fees associated with LoTW are for award credit submissions. And I have got news for this guy, the same fees were involved for paper QSL cards except it was more of a time consuming hassle for everyone involved.

Some people like putting certificates on the wall and that is cool, but everyone understands there is a fee associated to support the organization. Everyone except for this guy apparently.

I do have DXCC on the wall here but that is it as I was not otherwise interested. For my part I just like collecting the confirmations and LoTW makes that easy. I still do have postage credit with the incoming W1 bureau, but because I no longer send out cards the incoming has fallen to a trickly every five or six months (which I reply to directly out of politeness).

But this guy after complaining that the ARRL and LoTW are "commercial" he then goes on to ask people for $5 to upload a contact to that same LoTW.

I have not worked this guy, I just heard him on the air and looked up his QRZ page, after reading it I decided then and there not to give him a call.

VK9DX Callsign Page

VK9DX personal biography

www.qrz.com

f that guy.

ujay

 

[ToddDubya]

Sad hams gonna sad ham.

I had a guy contact me to ask me to sign up for and upload my logs to QRZ. I use LotW, not QRZ. But he was trying to finish some award, I think WAS, which MA isn't exactly some rare DX. I decided I'd help him out, and it became this weekend long process of getting my log over there. Then he didn't show up anyway because he was in some other log that hadn't uploaded to my regular log and I had to go find that. Once I started I felt like I needed to see it through and help the guy out. But it was kind of forward to ask me to do all that.

Now every so often I go in and sync my QRZ to LotW so I don't get any more requests.

 

[ToddDubya]

I was literally doing nothing at work today so I decided it would be better for me to enjoy the beautiful day than sit at my laptop trying to fill the day. So I hiked into the AT shelter I've been going to all winter and tried to get the last 54 contacts I needed for my goal of 1,000. The original goal was 1,000 by the end of winter, which I decided to make the end of March, but I fell a little short. I ended up getting 56 contacts today before calling QRT, so I had a little insurance.

It was 74 degrees at my house but by the time I drove up the mountain it was 64 degrees. Then I hit the snowy woods and it was even cooler. I sure was glad I grabbed a heavy shirt before I left. Having to contend with cold and snow still qualifies as winter in my book.

I was in the middle of my 999th contact when a backpacker showed up and was like "Hi, nice day. How are you? What's going on?" I gave her the "Hold on a sec" finger, then explained what I was doing and how she was about to witness history in the making, my 1,000th contact from the mountain. "Oh, I thought it sounded like ham radio", and off she went to check out the shit house. If I know one thing about women, it's that my entire existence is not interesting to them.

I wanted to play with the Xiegu some more, but I could not let the new rig just show up and steal all the glory, so I brought the Mountain Topper. It is such a pleasure to use, especially with that single lever paddle.

Now I need a new challenge.

 

[CatSnoutSoup]

Today in the shack I received an order of two, 30 foot rolls, of 2 conductor 18AWG wire.

As you can see on the right in the photo below my 25 foot spool of 18AWG Radio Shack speaker wire is getting near the end.
I use it for low amperage 12V hook up wire, and seeing as how our local Radio Shack store closed in 2015, I have had it for a while.

The new stuff has two insulated 18AWG conductors (tinned copper) in a PVC jacket (300V/105C). At first examination it looks to be good quality and the conductors are nicely tinned. For what it is worth the jacket is roll marked with specs and includes a C-RU (UL labs recognized component mark).

Like I said I will use it for low amperage hook up wire for accessories and what-have-you. The rating on 18AWG conductors in 2.3A for power transmission and that is pretty much the max draw of any 12V piece of equipment I would use it on.

It is $12.86 for a 30 foot roll and there is a 20% click-on coupon.
www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPPXG5BK/

I considered it a good deal (BCG not included )