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Power Considerations for Data Stations

Summary    |     Details    |     Questions

Summary

A high-level summary is presented here in quick, bulleted form.  More details are provided below.

 

Details

Data Stations Typically Require More Power

The typical data station requires more power than the typical voice station for several reasons:

 

Grounding and Bonding

Proper bonding and grounding are important for optimal station operation, whether the station is a temporary field station or a permanent installation, such as at an EOC. And for permanent stations, proper bonding and grounding is required by building/electrical codes.

The ARRL publishes a good book on electrical grounding and bonding: "Grounding and Bondin for the Radio Amateur".

 

Calculating Power Requirements

The following describes how to calculate the power requirements for a radio and external hardware TNC used for packet communications. The assumptions stated below are appropriate for most situations. Most people can jump straight to the answer in the last bullet below. But for completeness, the detailed assumptions and calculations are presented so that anyone can adjust them to their own requirements.

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Questions / Comments

The SCCo Packet Operations training classes cover the above information and much more. Consult the training course materials for more detail.

If you have a question about any of the above information, someone else probably does, too.  So post your question to our scc-packet groups.io where all of our local packet users can see the question and the answer.

Note:  Only members are able to see and post messages.  You will need to join before submitting a question. To join the packet group you must first be a member of the announce group.


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This page was last updated on 17-July-2022