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I was wanting to get an external power supply for my new Kenwood that is arriving soon, but I wasn't paying $150 for a Kenwood unit. In fact I didn't have to pay for one at all. I have several obsolete towers here and pulled a PSU from a P4 Dell that has long been retired.
The 12VDC rail provides 16A which is about ten times what I need for my handheld on high power.
I clipped all of the connectors off, eliminated the 5VDC and 3.3VDC rail wiring, then bundled the ground wires and the 12VDC wires together and soldered them together. I installed a mounting tab for the backs of the banana jacks and mounted them on a plastic plate screwed to the cabinet to isolate the current from the case. I also used the grey wire to drive an LED indicator that is lit when output voltages are correct. The green wire gets attached to chassis ground to keep the PSU from shutting off when not connected to a MB in the computer.
Works great and didn't cost a nickel to make.
The 12VDC rail provides 16A which is about ten times what I need for my handheld on high power.
I clipped all of the connectors off, eliminated the 5VDC and 3.3VDC rail wiring, then bundled the ground wires and the 12VDC wires together and soldered them together. I installed a mounting tab for the backs of the banana jacks and mounted them on a plastic plate screwed to the cabinet to isolate the current from the case. I also used the grey wire to drive an LED indicator that is lit when output voltages are correct. The green wire gets attached to chassis ground to keep the PSU from shutting off when not connected to a MB in the computer.
Works great and didn't cost a nickel to make.
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