Power source

Radios are electronic devices and therefore need electricity to operate. To you and I this may seem a silly statement, but when you are out on an event, and have no power, you will not be talking to many people.

Most home-base radios operate on 240 volt AC. and can be plugged straight into a normal mains power socket. Some can also use 12 volts DC like mobiles.

Most mobile radios operate on 12 volt DC. This means that they can be connected directly or indirectly to a car battery. More often than not, this is how mobile radios will be run. If you are wanting to use mobile radios out of the car, and mains power is available, you can use power transformers (also known as Power Packs) to convert 240 volt AC mains supply into 12 volt DC.

One thing to remember about power supplies, be they transformers inside a base station, a separate power pack, or the car's battery is the fuse. Just as a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, so is an electrical circuit. This weak link, when it breaks will need replacing so it makes sense to make the weakest link the cheapest thing to replace - hence the fuse. 50p to replace a fuse is a lot cheaper (and easier) than £50 to repair a radio.

If you are using a base station or a power pack, then you will obviously need a fuse in the mains plug. This fuse wants to be as small as possible, either a 2Amp or a 3Amp fuse would be fine.

This however is not enough protection for your radio because there is still nothing between it and the 12 Volt DC supply. You will need a second fuse, just before the power goes into the radio set. On base station sets, you will often find a fuse compartment, usually round the back, where you put this second fuse. On mobiles, whether they are connected to a power pack, permanently connected to the car, or plugged into the cigar socket, an "In-Line" fuse can be used. An in-line fuse, is basically a cylinder housing a fuse. The red power lead is cut in two, and the two pieces connected to either end of the housing. Again, this fuse wants to be 2 Amps rated.

Hand-held radios have internal battery packs, which mean that they are totally portable. These battery packs will either be specifically designed ones for that set, or will consist of a battery compartment in which you can put normal batteries. If you do use normal batteries, buy rechargable ones, otherwise it will get very expensive. Some radios have a power socket to let you plug it in to charge the batteries up inside the set. Others do not, so you may need a separate charger.

Forgetting to charge hand-held sets is one of the most common reasons for sets being unusable on events. Make sure you have all hand-held sets fully charged before they are needed.