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Domain: andersonpower.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to andersonpower.com.

Comments · 7

  1. Re:Why are they making this? by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1 · on Equipping a Small Hackerspace?

    A good connector solution. Pick a popular connector line from Molex or somesuch...

    For low voltage power connections I heartily recommend Anderson Powerpoles - Amateur radio folk have pretty much standardized on these - they work well and are genderless. These guys have gone all crazy over them, and offer lots of useful things like power distribution blocks, etc.

  2. Re:What About Molex? by NoMaster · · Score: 1 · on Universal Power Adapter Struggling For Support

    Screw that - Anderson connectors are where it's at!

    Seriously though, if you're going to try to come up with a new standard for low-power connections on portable devices, one that is going to require proprietary hardware (the Green Plug chip) anyway, why not do something sensible and come up with a connector that minimises the potential for hardware damage? USB ain't it, any more than the stupid barrel DC connectors are - it's just too easy to snap things like that off in the socket, or strain the connections to the PC board, and then you're fucked.

    They could start by taking a long hard look at something like Apple's Magsafe connector, and trying to engineer something similar which doesn't fall foul of Apple's IP...

  3. Re:48VDC pros/cons (IMHO) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on DC Power Poised To Bring Savings To Datacenters

    There are some nice genderless connectors (i.e. there is no plug/socket distinction) -- sometimes used as booster cable connectors although I gather they were first designed for battery packs on electric fork-lift trucks -- there's quite a range of them at http://www.andersonpower.com/products/multipole-connectors.html, including some rated at 700A and with auxiliary contacts. At least for some of the range, they seem to be standard between manufacturers.

  4. Power Pole by Nethead · · Score: 1 · on Low Voltage Power Distribution?
    There is a new 12VDC connection system being used by ham radio geeks that seems to fit your ticket: http://www.andersonpower.com/

    Distance is still a problem.. why do you think that you have a big fat wire on your car battery? A lot of car manufactures are looking at using 47v or something for cars in the near future to reduce the weight of wire in cars.

  5. PoE is a kludge! by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Insightful · on New Computer Powered By PoE
    PoE is just another kludge being standardized because the industry is too lazy and stupid to define a proper standard.

    Ethernet cables were designed to carry DATA, not power. Running a 12W computer off PoE with any kind of distance to the power providing hub is going to require about 20W of input to make it work - with the 8W difference going to heat the cables.

    With all the concern over the leakage current of wall warts, this is an improvement?

    Consider the history of bad decisions like this:
    • "Power Points" in cars. Lighter sockets were designed for lighters, not laptops. They have poor mechanical retention (because the lighter needs to be able to pop out when hot), high contact resistance (so what if the contacts get hot? They are SUPPOSED to get hot!), and a really nasty failure mode (Lil' Billy dropping a penny in them while he waits for mommy to get out of the store). But rather than defining a sensible power connection, the automobile industry lazily continue to push lighter sockets as a power point.
    • USB port powered devices which provide no USB functionality. USB Humidifiers? Cup Warmers? Christmat trees? Ash trays? Cell phone chargers? USB was designed to allow your computer to *control* things, not act as a glorified wall-wart!

    Now we have this stupid idea. "But Ethernet is standard world-wide, and power jacks aren't!"

    So? How about coming up with a standard power/data services jack and deploying it? It's not like Ethernet jacks were a natural phenominon - they were a standard which was created and deployed.

    A nice standard power/data jack, with a standardized supply voltage high enough to move a reasonable amount of power through reasonably sized wires, and a data services jack designed to *move data* would be so much nicer in the end.

    Also, consider this: You have your plant with a bunch of these PoE computer terminals, each tapping power from your central hub. Each computer will inject a small amount of noise onto the line - that's just a fact of life. How much will that noise start to degrade the network signal - especially when you start talking about gigabit Ethernet?

    What if we just standardize on, say, a pair of Anderson Power Pole connectors supplying 24VDC at 2A max, right under a standard RJ-45 Ethernet jack. Devices which want to pull power and data have a combined plug which mates to both sets of connectors, standard Ethernet devices use the top port only. Standardize on using 14 gauge wire for power.

    Now you have a sensible standard power port that can be used internationally, still requires the user to just plug one thing in, and isn't a kludge!

    (O.T. What is with /. suddenly deciding to replace </li> elements with </li><li> ? It screws up making proper HTML lists!)
  6. Genderless connectors by clone22 · · Score: 1 · on L.A. County Bans Use Of "Master/Slave" Term
    Will we not be able to have male and female ends on our 1/4" audio cable for fear of offending the transgendered? How the hell am I supposed to shop for wires now?
    This might fill the bill, however the name, Power Pole might cause some to take offense.
  7. GENDERLESS modular Anderson power connectors by fishnuts · · Score: 2, Informative · on Connectors: A History of Their Technology?

    The vast majority of the electrical connectors you see are either male of female. They're all built just to mate with its complement, which raises parts storage issues as well as restricts how things can plug into eachother. I got a hold of genderless-mating modular connectors that can snap together in many configurations, and have no concept of 'male' or 'female'. They're apparently made by Anderson Power Products. I have a few pictures of their smaller connectors here. Connectors like these would be GREAT for daisy chaining DC power sources and/or building quick-disconnect battery charging harness, since their design maintains polarity regardless of the "direction" of the connector (supply to supply, battery to battery, battery to supply, etc)