need 20A sorce under the dash

I have a 2004 Jeep Cherokee that I want to hook up some HAM Radio's in....   they need to be activated with the Ignition.   where can I find a 20 Amp sorce to hook into?

^^^^^^^ good advice that you should follow.

I'm sorry but I have no idea what your talking about...   or how to go about doing it...     I'm been in the Radio & TV repair business for 35 years but this auto wireing reallt throws me...

20 amps is a lot of current to try and pull through the factory fuse box. A relay is used as a device to draw power from another source (your battery) that is triggered from a low current source in your fuse box (like an ignition line). You need a Bosch SPDT relay. It will have 5 pins on the bottom of it, labelled with the numbers described above. What will happen is that you will find an ignition wire and when the key is turned on the relay will activate and allow current to flow from the battery to the ham radios. When the key is off the relay does not allow this current to flow. Does this help you at all?

use an ignition source to trip a relay that provides power straight from the battery

just like the above reply "s"

Thank You "Forbidden" & "Charles"   I understand now,  Where will I find an ignition wire?        10 Amps is all I need for a VHF rig at this time but if I decide to put a HF Rig in there  I'll need more power...  most HF Rigs put out about 100 watts and draw around 20 Amps at thier peaks...

Dave, K5DRC

You can find the main ignition wire coming down the steering column from the ignition tumbler. It will test +12v with the key in and turned to acc or run. It should be a dark blue wire.