Help Finding Power Supply..

[celsteve]

Hi, as the topic suggests I have just bought a band expander for my Jap radio, and have taken the panels off and the radio out and wanted to know how I can find the correct wire for the 12v power supply to link the expander to. I have never messed around with electrics before so don't even know where to start, I thought they just plugged into radio without any connections except for the aerial lead .

Please give any advice you can as to where to connect this wire and will I need to buy any connectors?

Thanking you inadvance!!

steve

[mikeb]

IIRC, the red wire into the radio is 12v switched with the ignition, and the yellow wire is the permanent supply to the radio (for the radio memory). I guess you want to use the red one for your band expander.

[celsteve]

thanks Mike,

I'll go and see what I can do. So do I just cut that wire and then connect the two ends back together along with the expander? Do i need to buy anything or will some tape do as a quick fix?

Steve

[mikeb]

You really need to use some kind of crimp connectors or solder the wires together. Taping them together will do for testing (but it would be safer to use a multimeter if you have one), but if you drive around like that vibrations will likely cause an intermittent connection.

If you are handy with a soldering iron, it is quite straightforward to do without cutting the existing wire. Just strip back some of the insulation (5mm should be plenty) well away from any existing connectors, and solder the end of the new wire onto the exposed section of the existing wire. Wrap the joint tightly with decent quality insulation tape, so it can't short onto any metalwork.

[celsteve]

Cheers mate,

think for now I will tape them, just to get her back in one piece and then buy a soldering iron tomorrow.

Thanks for advice,

steve