JerryX
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- Nov 9, 2017
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I don't hear the fan at all, so if it's running, it's so quiet I can't hear it.
Power Supplies, RF quiet, Linear or Switching?
- Thread starter iMONITOR
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I don't hear the fan at all, so if it's running, it's so quiet I can't hear it.
JerryX
Member
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2017
- Messages
- 76
I use it with 100 watt transceivers, including 100% duty cycle modes, such as RTTY.
iMONITOR
Silent Key
Very little, about 6 amps to start. Maybe a few extra later.
Lately, switching power supplies aren't as noisy as they used to be. I have had several that didn't make any noise. I can only remember having one that did make noise but that was a lot of years ago. One source you may not have thought about is the places that supply RV builders. They have AC to DC power supplies for the RVs that need them. They are typically 'larger' than what you normally find on the ham markets, 55 amps isn't unusual at all. Be warned though, they are not 'pretty'! But since it's usualy stuck under a desk, who cares?
SuperG900
WG5ENE
Good to know as I just ordered one yesterday. Nice price too.I use these on all of my rigs that run on 13.8V DC. I've examined their output on a spectrum analyzer and see nothing that would give me pause even for use on HF.
SuperG900
WG5ENE
Just got my order in from powerwerx - everything was nicely packed. I bought the AT-578, the radio frame, power supply and an external speaker. Very very nice stuff. Waiting on coax from another vendor.
Just curious, has anyone ever checked the quality of power from a PC power supply? I ran across this the other day and thought it was neat,
I know you couldn't power a lot from this, but I don't transmit, just receive with my radios.
Amazon.com: Onyehn 2pcs 24 Pin Benchtop Power Board Computer ATX Power Supply Breakout Adapter Module Desktop Computer Chassis Power Supply ATX Transfer Board 12V 5V 3.3V: Electronics
Buy Onyehn 2pcs 24 Pin Benchtop Power Board Computer ATX Power Supply Breakout Adapter Module Desktop Computer Chassis Power Supply ATX Transfer Board 12V 5V 3.3V: Internal Power Supplies - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
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I know you couldn't power a lot from this, but I don't transmit, just receive with my radios.
N4KVE
Member
Several years ago I was involved in a project to upgrade the FW, & FC in 1200 APX radios. Instead of bringing an Astron PS, or something similar, the boss brought a computer PS that was the size of a half loaf of bread. He had 5 power cords coming out the back to power 5 radios at the same time. It worked great.
I'm assuming they've got to be pretty clean to make sure no hash can accidentally be seen as a random digital data bit by the CPU, and I have heard some hams using PC power supplies successfully, although I haven't tried it myself first-hand.
Yes and most are unusable for HF radios. A friend of mine had a writeup many years ago in one of the major hamster magazines on how to reduce the noise hash from computer power supplies. He found the LC filtering in all computer supplies at that time were installed backwards to keep noise out of the power supply and not to reduce noise leaving the power supply.
What about VHF or higher?
That could work, you would need to measure what RFI comes out of a computer power supply and if its useable at HF, great. If not but its useable at VHF, great. But it might not be.
What do tool do you need to measure noise? Oscilloscope?
I've had an Astron 30 Amp linear supply in my shack, running 24 / 7 since 1988. Only once in 32 years did I notice the voltmeter sitting at zero. It was right after a nasty thunder storm. A close by lightning strike caused the Astrons crowbar protection circuit to trip. A simple power cycle & all was well.
I've had a few switchers but they are all gone now. AM radio interference, HF interference, reliability were all issues. And the Astron supply just keeps working..............and working............................................................................
I've had a few switchers but they are all gone now. AM radio interference, HF interference, reliability were all issues. And the Astron supply just keeps working..............and working............................................................................
SuperG900
WG5ENE
You could probably get away something like, maybe a DC blocking cap into the antenna port on one of those SDR dongles and use that to peek at it - quick and dirty.
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