When planning to head out with either the Yaesu FT-70D or maybe, if I get so inclined, with the IC-7300 – one always needs power. Now, should I decide to take the IC-7300 out for some /p or /m on HF I will of course take a nice LifePo4 battery with me, but when heading out with just the Yaesu handy, two batteries usually would be enough but just in case, as the FT-70 accepts up to 16V DC supply, it would suffice to have a connection available from the battery on the motorcycle. So, decided to get that sorted today.
As I will only ever have the radio connected to the bike battery (1) – if one of the FT-70D batteries needs charging and (2) – when I am actually with the bike – I opted for a direct-to-the-battery connection rather than wire it through the ignition switch. I wouldn’t ever leave any of my radios with my bike so no chance of forgetting about it and flattening the battery!
At least Lexmoto engineers made access to the wiring loom pretty easy, so it was a 20 minute task of threading the twin 5A cable through the existing loom and supports to connect it to the battery, then continue under the seat through to the removable rear space underneath the removable pillion passenger seat where I coiled around 12″ of cable and terminated it with appropriately coloured plugs. I will update these connectors to Anderson power pole or similar in time. This cable hides discretely out of sight when not in use.
I previously had already purchased the official E-DC-6 Yaesu external DC power cable, and once the male connectors were fitted to this, did a final connection test and all worked perfectly.
A convenient and very easy 20 minute job overall, and something I likely won’t use that often if at all, but as many of us have discovered to our peril… it is always good to have a backup system in place as a just-in-case measure.
That’s it, quick and easy. Have fun!
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