Power supply suggestion

[mrwilson706]

Wanted to pick your brains and get suggestions for an inexpensive power supply for a part-time shack?

• Currently using an 2-meter RS HTX-212 which manual states requires 10 amps continuous
• Most likely will only have or need enough amps for (1) transciever
• Cost will be a major factor since my shack won't be permanant until I can reallocate some space from the wife/kids/storage.

Anybody have any remarks regarding the Pyramid stuff?

Thanks in advance and Merry Christmas!

 

[K9WG]

I like Astron myself.

You could always get a $20 garden tractor battery and a $9 trickle charger.

 

[fineshot1]

What ever power supply you wind up with a general rule of thumb when
choosing a power supply is to get one with 2 times the current capacity
you think you need. The reason being(I have learned this via many years
of experience in making mistakes) is that eventually your needs will
change and you will need more current capacity from your supply so
it is best to do it right the first time.

My favorite power supply is the industrial type switching supplies
made by IOTA Engineering. After my saying that your gonna hear
all kinds of nay sayers regarding the use of switching supplies but
I have been using them for years with no noise problems and all of
the HF rig makers have been making them now for many years as
well as most commercial communications equipment manufactures.
They can't all be wrong.

IOTA Engineering DLS Series AC/DC Power Converters and Battery Chargers for 12VDC Systems

 

[rfguygg]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

If cost is the biggest concern and you dont mind a little tinkering, find a computer power supply for cheap/free. Most can handle 9-10 amps on the 12 volt line. I use them for my FM transceivers. There are several articles on the web about the PC supply conversions.

 

[newsphotog]

I use and recomment the Alinco DM-330V power supply. For what it is, its very inexpensive and it handles my VHF/UHF rigs without a sweat. It's a good investment and I see it lasting me a very long time. The meter and adjustable volts/noise offset is very handy.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[mrwilson706]

Thank you for the input!

 

[LtDoc]

One of the best ideas I've ever had was buying a very large 12 vdc supply several years ago. It has been more than adequate in handling anything I've ever attached to it. It's big-n-ugly, and heavy. No, it isn't a switching power supply, but there weren't any around when this one was bought. I have no idea what it's max ratings are, I honestly think you could weld with it. It just sits there, doesn't require anything in particular to make it happy, doesn't produce a lot of heat or noise, and doesn't complain if it's idle. I wish I had bought two of them!
The point being that larger than necessary is a very good idea. Never know when you might find some gadget that needs 12 volts and there's no place to stick another 'wall-wart'.
- 'Doc

 

[prcguy]

I have several of the Astron SS series which are small lightweight switching supplies. I use an SS-18 for travel with a Yaesu FT-857 or Icom 707MKIIG and an SS-25M and SS-30M for various HF radios around the house and office.

These do not have any detectable RF hash on HF and have been going for between 10 and 15years with absolutely no problems. The SS-18 is only rated at 18A intermittent use but has been powering radios that draw upwards of 20A just fine.

You can find various Astron SS series supplies on Ebay for very reasonable prices, I paid about $40 for the SS-18 and under $75 for the SS-25M and SS-30M.
prcguy

 

[N8IAA]

I use a Samlex 1223. It is a switching supply that runs cool, and doesn't interfere on HF. Very inexpensive.
Larry