Astron VS-70M causing my radio to shut down on TX

Josh380

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2015
Messages
326
Location
Orange County, CA
So I've got an Astron VS-70M for my RCI 2970N2. This power supply should provide more than enough amperage for my radio, but things seem to go haywire after it's been on for a few hours. The radio's display "wigs out" flashes and shows a bunch of different numbers on the frequency display (not anywhere close to the frequency I was on, or where the radio is capable for that matter), and will cause the radio to shutdown then immediately power back on. This all happens within milliseconds of pressing the PTT.

I first noticed this problem when the power supply was too close to the radio, years ago when I bought it. I moved it further away and the problem disappeared.

Recently when experiencing this problem I discovered that the fan on the back (an AC powered fan) was dead and the transformer was very hot to the touch at the surface of the case (the transformer sits right at the middle, very front).

Naturally I assumed that the power supply was overheating and shutting down to protect itself. I added a 12v fan which seemed to work for a short time, but then I started experiencing the problem again.

Replacing the fan seems difficult, at least to find, or maybe I'm just not looking in the right place, but I'm finding the same brand fan, but not finding a matching part number.

I'm not even sure if I'm barking up the right tree here anyway, and I don't like throwing parts at stuff to fix it eventually.

Anyone ever experience this and have a solution, or just plain know what is going on and how to fix it?
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2013
Messages
6,859
Probably the ASTRON is flaking out and not regulating voltage properly. You might damage the radio when this happens. Put a load other than a radio on the ASTRON and use a scope and DVM to see if the voltage is correct and the ripple is in spec.
 
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