I have an Astron linear supply I believe it's the RS50M it has run continuously for the last 10 years , both running my radios as well as charging my battery backup ,should i need more juice than the supply has it will bring the batteries online to meet the peak .
Astrons are great power supplies ,in other rooms i have eaten everything from radio shack to samlex supplies (eaten as in there dead and gone, i could not fix them)
My best advice don't go cheap on your power supply buy something you will still be using when you bury the radio.
Buying a little power supply is a waste of resources, get something that can put out 15 amps at minimum ,there are lots of radios that will come and go ,your supply shouldn't unless I am mistaken that is a chinese knock of the FT 8900 one of the supplies I buried lasted exactly 15 seconds key down on my 8900 , these radios do not like under voltage they will shut themselves off if the supply doesnt put out enough juice .
So either don't skimp on the supply or be prepared to purchase something like the BB30M I think its called with a battery to make sure you have juice .
Not all radios are that low powered if you get into HF that supply will not haul the mail and you will have to once again buy a power supply , spend the extra now on a decent supply if money is tight most ofvthe candy stores will sell used supplies that got traded in, some of them are built like a battle ship ,Kenwood has notoriously good supplies , also MTC Radio in Texas does financing and layaways as well as trades for anything that doesn't eat (I think he traded for goat it ate alot more than it was worth , i know hes traded horse saddles, sailboats and a pinto in on radios , hes pretty unique in that way among candy stores ).
Doesn't matter if your brand new or an Elmer your supply is more important than the make or model radio you can run a cheap radio on a good supply but you can't run a good radio on a cheap supply. Also older supplies that are built like tanks can usually be rebuilt many times should they fail , a cheap supply many times costs more to fix than buying a new one ,and oddball cheap supplies sometimes come with no component identification , if your good you can sometimes figure it out , if your not your stuck buying a new one ,and if supply goes in the middle of rag chew and you don't have a spare or battery it's frustrating because your off the air until you replace it , and things never fail when its convient , i can assure you .
So get more supply than you think you need because eventually you will need it ,I buy radios the same way more bells and whistles than I plan to use , so when I find something new or different to get into chances are good I won't have to buy a new rig, just learn how to better operate the one i have,saves a ton of money in the long run.
This ain't ancient wisdom , its reality we never have exactly what we need or want, or the free cash to get it ,but if you strategically "over" purchase you can come close.
My latest purchase is a TYT TH-9800, and in the Specs it states that the Current consumption is 8.5A. I assume this is the most it will use at 50W continuous transmit.
I am looking at the Astron RS-12A which has the current rated 9A continous, while the Mega Watt is rated at 33A.
While they are somewhat close in price, I have to wonder if the 9A on the Astron is within the tolerance of an 8.5A load.
The Mega Watt is well within range, but I have a concern with the possibility of it failing and frying anything hooked to it.
If you would not consider either, what would be your choice while keeping within a reasonable percentage of my $50 to $60 price target?
Just a side note - I may bid on an older Yaesu, Icom, or Kenwood stand alone power supply since that might just be my best option, and time is not of the essence in my particular case.
Opinions and/or experiences?
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