Using Wall Wart for Alinco DXR8

[chrissim]

Hello:

My Alinco is my go to radio that I use to survey the bands before I fire up the entire listening station. Without it, my listening experience is made more complicated (turn on PC, turn on loop, turn on Excalibur - you get the idea).

The Pyramid regulated power supply that I purchased for exclusive use with the Alinco seemingly died, although the multimeter suggests I am indeed getting power to the ends of the DC power cable. I purchased another DC power cable from Universal thinking that was the issue, it's not. So, it must be the Pyramid power supply.

I had an old wall wart that I decided to use which is 12 volts and 2.5 amps that I used to test whether or not it was the radio. The wart powers on the Alinco and I can use it fine. However, Alinco suggest 13,8 volts and 30 amps.

Am I taking a chance in damaging the radio by using the wall wart? It hasn't introduced any nose or anything of that nature, but knowing little of electronics, I thought I'd ask.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Token]

Not sure why Alinco suggested 13.8 VDC and 30 Amps for a receiver, that is a bit odd. You need that kind of power for a 100 Watt transmitter, not a modern receiver.

Looking at the Alinco spec sheet here (DX-R8T/E Detail information ) they say the receiver only uses 1.0 Amp, much more in line with what one would expect.

Also note that the 13.8 is a “nominal” value, not really the only thing that can be used. For example if you use that radio in a car it might normally see anything from 12 to 14.4 VDC, depending on if the car motor is running and charging the battery or if the engine is off, the differing loads on the vehicle electrical system, etc. Again referring to the Alinco web page above it says “13.8 VDC +/- 15% (11.7 to 15.8 VDC)”.

Using the wall wart should be just fine. But make SURE the polarity of the jack is correct, there is no “standard”.

One thing to keep in mind is that many wall warts are poorly filtered switching supplies, so you might see some pretty hairy changes in your RFI. If you hear noise you never heard before look to the wall wart first. Since you have the Excalibur one way to check would be to lay the wall wart (unpowered) next to the Excal. Start the Excal and let a wideband waterfall history build for a minute. Power the wall wart (with it plugged into the Alinco) and look for changes on the wideband waterfall.

T!

 

[T04KLH9PW7AN]

Not sure why Alinco suggested 13.8 VDC and 30 Amps for a receiver, that is a bit odd. You need that kind of power for a 100 Watt transmitter, not a modern receiver.

T!

Unedited cut and paste from the DX-SR8 Transceiver manual the proof reader overlooked most likely.

 

[chrissim]

Thank you, Token. I'll feel much better using the wart with your approval (I mean it). I'll also check it near the Excalibur as you suggested. The one thing I can do is ensure the polarity is correct, and it is.

Thank you both for your replies. Don't know what I'd do without this forum.

 

[SCPD]

Unedited cut and paste from the DX-SR8 Transceiver manual the proof reader overlooked most likely.

Well, looking at the Alinco site, I would say either the OP got the wrong manual or downloaded the SR8 manual from the Alinco web site. For some strange reason, they don't even offer the DX-R8 manual for download.

I had to search Google for it: http://www.maplin.co.uk/media/pdfs/N41JX Manual.pdf

The manual clearly says 3A maximum. No idea where the OP got 30A from. Either he read it wrong or read the wrong manual.

My blame would go to Alinco however as their naming conventions are silly. DX-R8 DX-SR8 ..? The S means transmit???

 

[chrissim]

I don't know where I got 30 either. I neglected to place the decimal, so instead of 30, read 3.0. I was looking at the power supply that Universal suggests, which is 13.8/3. Universal also states that it requires a 12 at 1 amp, which I need to believe is a new addition. I don't recall seeing that before. Regardless, I thankfully received the information I needed.

Thanks again.

 

[nanZor]

I have the R8 (love it!) and 3 amps is just for the initial power-on surge.

In use, you'll find that it only draws anywhere from about 500 milliamps to maybe 700ma depending on how bright the backlighting is and how loud the audio is. But that little power on spike might trip a smaller supply, even though it quickly settles to less than 1amp in normal use.

 

[majoco]

Bear in mind that most wall-warts are not very well regulated, so the printed output voltage will only be true at the stated output current - you may find that at a lighter current draw the voltage is higher. I use a fully regulated 13.8v 5Amp supply for all my 12v radios and accessories.