Over the years, we’ve shown wall-adapter power supplies labeled with a variety of methods. Systems Engineer Ihor Slabicky in Rhode Island goes a step beyond, writing a label that indicates the voltage and current.
He does not note the polarity, since most supplies are positive, so unless the adapter is negative, Ihor and his team do not label for that. But voltage and current capacity are useful. His label is written in big, legible lettering on a white or light-colored slip of paper taped to the adapter with a wide piece of clear packing tape. (And of course you could also do this with a label-maker.)
Ihor also labels USB cables. Every electronics manufacturer seems to have a USB cable with its own unique USB termination that fits only their products. With so many different ends, the team labels USB cables using the equipment brand name (Canon, Olympus, HP, etc.). This simple addition to the label has saved them a lot of time looking for “that” one charger cable amongst all the others.
Recently his team bought several Samsung Galaxy A03S mobile phones. They all need to be charged. The phones come with a USB-C cable with male connector at each end, but no charger. Easy, right? Just plug one end of the USB-C male cable into the phone and the other end into — wait a minute!
For some reason, none of the equipment in his lab had a USB-C connector. An emergency run to a dollar store brought back a USB-A male to USB-C male cable and a USB-A to USB-C male AC plug adapter. Plugging into a 5-volt power adapter that had a USB-A connector put them back in business — almost. Checking the cell phone, they saw that it was “slow charging.” The adapter being used was labeled “5VDC 500mA” —not enough current to fast-charge the phone.
A quick look located an adapter labeled “5VDC 1A” that charged up the phone nicely. Another good reason to label the adapters with both voltage and current.
Ihor writes that readers are probably still laughing about getting cables at a dollar store. But the cables were inexpensive and the problem was solved in 45 minutes.
The first two photos illustrate how small the print is on some supplies and adapters. The third image shows a labeled adapter.
The fourth image shows an Olympus USB connector on the left and a Samsung on the right. On first glance they look the same. Grab the wrong one as you’re heading out into the field, and you may regret it. So take the time to label cables, adapters and supplies.
EV powering a translator?
GM electrical vehicles with Lithium batteries — like the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV and 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 — will boast bidirectional vehicle-to-home charging capabilities to power up homes or businesses. The technology allows consumers to store and transfer energy to help offset electricity needs during peak demand days and mitigate the impact of power outages, making the transition to an all-electric future even more compelling, GM said in a statement.
Homes or businesses? How about a radio transmitter site? These vehicles may not handle the power requirements of a full-power station, but for a translator … who knows?
Bow-wow
Frequent contributor Dan Slentz found a car horn with a USB thumb drive attachment for playing custom audio tracks like jingles — or in Dan’s case, a barking dog. Why? He wanted to install it in the Hot Rod Lincoln, a remote vehicle for new LPFM station WDOG. (The car is also known as The Dog Catcher.) Do you have any fun tricks to make a station’s remote vehicle more noticeable? Drop me a line.
And speaking of barking dogs, you haven’t lived until you’ve attempted to take AM directional proof measurements on private property, protected by a barking dog. But for a chuckle, go to YouTube and search “Mailman fake dog bark prank.” (After watching it, our editor Paul McLane thought engineers might be tempted to rig up a security system that adds the sound of a dog barking.)
Send your tips! Workbench submissions are encouraged and qualify for SBE recertification credit. Email [email protected].
