The SHOCKING TRUTH! Radio Power Supplies

[@joeb3300]

I have the Samlex SEC-1235M for my HF rig. I have been very happy with it. Some commenter asked why you need meters - I have diagnosed more problems, usually with digital modes on HF, by observing that the transceiver's TX LED was ON but that power supply amperage drawn was ~2A rather than the expected 15A, than with any other diagnostic process. (PTT was being driven, but no audio signal was being received by the transceiver). My first power supplies were the inexpensive (usually) Chinese LED-driver power supplies, like you ended with. Both died after ~12 months of use. But I was lucky - a worst-case failure could either put 25V DC into your $1000 HF rig if the regulating circuitry failed, or an unattended PS running a rig in Winlink mode (high duty cycles approaching 100% transmit are possible) could catch fire. Not worth the low-price IMO. The LED driver PS units also tend to emit copious amounts of RF noise in the HF bands. At work (the Borought's EOC) we have an 50-amp Astron PS ($$$$). Weight-wise it is a beast, but I have not observed any acoustic hum. Thanks for the video.

[@RadiofieldOperator]

14.4V is the bench test voltage that kenwood in car stated was ideal, from all in car entertainment,which includes their comms gear.

[@brianclebowicz2920]

Cheap and "wonky" power supplies tend to destroy electronic equipment. And If you've invested a lot in this hobby, say $1K or more (EASY to do), do you really want to bet the health of that equipment on a $25-$35 supply meant for another application? Usually not a great gamble. Regarding batteries, especially LiFePo, they all have a maximum discharge rate - and for LiFePo it's usually 1C, or the stated capacity of the battery in Amp-hours, but in Amps. That would mean at least a 25 amp-hour LiFePo battery for an HF rig and that battery would cost about $75-$80 today, has a limited calendar life no matter how well you treat it and will not last long on digital modes/HF due to it's low capacity. MORAL: Spend the money to get a high quality power supply you can rely on - today and 10 years from now - one that won't barbeque your equipment with overvoltage. Linear vs. switching? Most switchers have fans and you WILL hear them if you push them hard. They generate spurs on 40M and below, being especially obnoxious on 80 and 160M. But if you never use those bands, or install a good noise suppression toroid on the DC power line, they can be fine. I use both linear and switching supplies in my stations..

[@The_Man_in_the_Black_Hat]

Good video. Very informative. I am not sure just how shocking the information contained within the video was.

[@unclemikeyplays]

Bonus points for providing your own incidental music!

[@BOBFudge]

New guy question - Can you have 2 mobile radios hooked up to 1 power supply? For example, have a HAM mobile radio and a CD mobile radio? Do they make PSs specifically for dual radios? I haven't seen any but then again I don't know what I'm looking for. Some have the "cigarette light" jack and the red/black cable hook-up. Could you plug the CB in the Cigarette lighter jack and HAM in the red/black? Thanks in advance

[@craig9309]

sure, i have one psu for two radios, however, i often use one or the other but not both. I don't like how hot the cigarette lighter jacks get either.

[@alexgunawan98]

cab we use Rig HAM using power bank ?

[@martincvitkovich724]

My Astron went up in smoke after 30 years, running a Harley Davidson battery and a trickle charger, until I come across a PS I can afford on SS

[@chuckrann6282]

Excellent video/information. I have a Kenwood TS-50, 20 amp power supply for my TS 440 AT. When I use CW, the power supply gets hot and even needed repair recently, so I am looking for another Power Supply. Will look at Samlex 1235p-m. I can use the TS-50 with diodes for the Handy. Good advice! Subscribed!

[@RonLovelace-b7w]

I inherited a mint jrc nrd-545 and want to power it with a dc power supply. I am new to amateur radio and confused which power supply to use. It runs on 13.8VDC with 30 watts. How does the 30 watts affect which power supply to get. Ron

[@craig9309]

Watts is Volts Times Amps. a 30watt supply at 13.8V is 2.1Amps (not much)

[@klv400]

On my radio at 13.8 volts the high voltage light is on can you tell me why? Thanks.

[@kingduckford]

Use a multi meter to check the actual voltage of the power supply. That is a good first step.

[@harkirat1962]

What about alinco smps

[@denelson83]

I ended up going with a 50Ah LiFePO₄ battery as the power supply for my rig, with Powerpole connectors, the same kind of wattmeter exhibited here, and a fuse panel.

[@TeamYankee2]

I just had a cheap $12 HP server power supply off ebay... PL18 - easy to mod for 13.8v with magnifying lens and a very steady hand. those SMD posrta are tiny!! Cheap switching (very clean) PSU for 54 amps output.

[@ArthurHerronW6HER]

Love me some Clapton👍

[@Porco_Utah]

I have one of those inexpensive switching power supply come in aluminium sheet metal. bought 13V 36A for $35. it works fine, except it has some leakage , isolation from 120V AC to DC is not the best. if you connect the radio to other device, you may hear some leakage noise. but, as long as use the radio by its self it is fine. AG6JU

[@edstar83]

99% of 3D printers use them too.

[@KE8ODY-WV-Ares-Ham-Dad-3O4]

Do you really need all the needles on the power supplies

[@mrtechie6810]

The more meters the better! :-)

[@KS0JD]

Like the video. I have the same setup with the Samlux 1223 for dual band VHF/UHF and the Samlux 1235 for the ICOM 7300. I also have a ICOM 706MKIIG tied to the 1235. But I only use it whne the 7300 is off.

[@Dreamlgider]

I have never had a switch mode psu that was RF quiet so i prefer linear psu. Even the Yaesu FTdx101MP speaker/PSU is a noisy bugger so i'm contemplating trading it in for an FTdx101 instead at least it runs of 12/13.8V and those are easy to get Linear.

[@jefffritsche9974]

Love the guitar ! Let's hear some real twangy country stuff !

[@nine7295]

"you can't just plug your amateur radio into the wall...", that's not entirely true. Many desktop amateur radio transceivers have built in power supplies, even in the old days. Our university club had an all Icom shack, and the Icom 761, 275A,475A,575H all have internal power supplies, that was in the 80s and 90s. Today, still many have internal power supplies if they see desktop models.

[@gilpi552]

Guitars and radios, I'm in!

[@BLACKHEAT1028]

Ali Baba and eBay are good alternatives to the usual big Ham Shops, especially if you don't mind trying other brands

[@dannelson8556]

I just can't take any ham seriously who doesn't understand that for radio communications linear power supplies are the gold standard all switching power supplies will be a compromise. whether that compromise impacts you directly all depends on your skill level. When I see people say I have a switching power supply and I don't see any switch noise I know I'm dealing with a ham radio operator with limited experience and knowledge in radio communications as all switching power supplies generate RF noise. next time someone tells you that they don't notice any noise from their switching powers by ask them what their RF noise floor is. If they give you a nice floor in s units rather than DB then you know you're dealing with an inexperienced ham radio operator. I have spent a great deal of time lowering the noise floor at my location and have an extremely low RF noise floor, it's so low that I can detect switching power supplies half a mile away from my house at my neighbor's house. I have a switching power supply in my shop and if I leave it on when I'm on the air I can see it as it increases the noise floor. So I need to turn that switching power supply off. I have several of the astron 50 and 70 amp variable voltage and current limiting power supplies and you'd need to tear them out of my cold dead hands before I give them up. I also have over a dozen high-end switching power supplies and several of the low end versions and they all generate RFI of course if you live in the city and have an S8 noise floor across the bands you'd never notice it also a slight correction to something mentioned in the video, if your radio is not putting out full power and you have a capable power supply then clean your fuses. ATO and ATC fuses are notorious for developing oxidation and/or loose contacts. One of the best upgrades you can do to your radio is replace the ATO/ATC fuse with a glass fuse. set your radio to full power and transmit a carrier into a dummy load while monitoring the voltage at the back of the radio. You're going to want to measure the voltage at the connector at the back of the radio not the back of the power supply. You shouldn't see more than a 10% drop in voltage If you do you need to pull your fuses out take some Emery cloth and clean the contacts. For some reason manufacturers are no longer using self-cleaning fuse holders, self-cleaning fuse holders are essential for ATC/ATO fuses, unfortunately manufacturers figured out that they could just use female spade terminals instead and so now just about all manufacturers use female spade terminals in their fuse holders and these do not properly clean the fuse contacts. The end result is over time As a result of repeated heating and cooling the fuse contacts will develop excessive resistance and you will see excessive voltage drop under load. With that said if all you do is operate VHF UHF repeaters then you can probably get away with a switching power supply, if you have a high noise floor Then you can probably get away with a switching power supply. But as a ham radio operator you should be doing your best to locate RF noise sources and eliminate them so you can actually work those week stations. I mean seriously what good does it do to spend a fortune on a ham radio with an excellent receiver only to install it in a high r of noise environment, you might as well just buy a cheap SDR receiver. It's hilarious I know hams was spent a fortune on ellacraft radios because of their exceptional ability to here weak signals and then install them in an environment with a high RF noise floor plagued with RFI, talk about a waste of money and effort.

[@9W3KYY]

JEEZ i need to subcribe right away 🤣

[@1112223333111]

samlex used to be good but the 1235 fan comes on every 10mins with just a hf radio recieving. its super annoying. the 1223 doesnt do that. they also used crapcon caps that fail as we speak

[@onemorething100]

Last year I bought an ICOM 7300 and a new Samlex. I was getting weird voltage drops. They sent me a new one. Same issue. Can't figure out what is going on. I believe both supplies are defective.

[@1112223333111]

@@onemorething100 which samlex?

[@onemorething100]

@@1112223333111The 1235P-M Model

[@THESHADOW97139]

So .... samlex is bad ??

[@1112223333111]

@@onemorething100 ?

[@bradleyjohnson452]

Are we talking about power supplies since RPi s are unobtanium? lol Great show as always

[@KM6LYW]

100% solid unobtanium. though, seriously, i did score a PiZero2W from chicagodist the other day, in a $55 kit form. rpilocator.com isn't watching for kits -- fyi.

[@vysterca]

Yup, gotta keep the guitar

[@RhettSparrow]

Sir, At 13:20 min onwards you are showing some cheap ebay crap and asking why will spend on linear when you can get these for 10%!!! “Penny Wise Pound Foolish” is what is coming to my mind. If you are making a comparison on price, make it between linear and switching of same brand, but you went from linear Astron to nameless shit. Same brand, the price is probably around 60% of linear. Why will anybody in their right mind risk buying a cheap power supply from ebay for their expensive rig!? You are talking about they being bad later and then almost recommending them using only price as a point to buy them!! Some beginner who is new is going to buy them and toast their equipment watching your video in the name of taking a chance! One can buy switching with 30A for roughly 90 bucks from brands like Tekpower. Thats a better way to go than going nameless cheap.

[@KM6LYW]

I agree, "I bought one of these and I threw it in the trash,"

[@RhettSparrow]

@@KM6LYW You did say it, but the 10% cost and hit/miss is what I fear a noob on money constraint will mainly hear and might think of taking a chance. But I liked everything else about your video. 📻

[@SummitNori-d1g]

Taylor Cynthia Rodriguez Mary Lee Betty

[@bobrunge7594]

Just what the hobby needs… another showboat.