Our first guest article by TempStar

As Hams, we often need a good source of 12 volt DC power to run our gear. I’d like to comment on the Switching supply I use. As a matter of fact I own several of them.

I can already hear the grumbles about switching supplies being noisy on HF, not lasting, or generally being junk. I will argue that based on my experience, the ones I use have none of those problems. Below is a photo of the supply in my shack which has been in service since 2011 powering a TS-480sat and a TM-D710.

There is another in my Go-Box, and yet another for my bench power supply. For the current price on Amazon of $23.14, it is hard to go wrong for a dependable source of 12 volt power.

Also, the voltage adjusts easily from about 12.0 to 14.1 volts. Testing reveals no voltage sag under instantaneous loading and only small transients shown on the scope, but I also usually find these transients on everything I test. You can view the item here:

Switching Power Supply on Amazon

Here are the published specs:

Specifications:
-Input Voltage: 115V/230VAC(90¡«132VAC/180¡«264VAC)
-Output Voltage: 12V DC
-Output Current: 0~29.2A
-Protection:
Shortage Protection
Overload Protection
Over Voltage Protection
Working temperature: -10¡æ¡«+ 60¡æ,20%¡«90%
RH -Storage temperature:
95%RH
Weight: 660g
Size: 215*114*50mm
Shell Material: Aluminum
Safety Compliance: FCC / CE
-Connection: -L, N: AC power input –
COM: DC power output “-”
V: DC power output “+”
+V / ADJ: Adjust the output voltage (10%)

Also seen in the first picture is the JEGS fuse block. I use the same in my Go-Box. They are well made and have been solid performers.

Jeggs Fuse Block on Amazon
Switching power supply technology has indeed come a long way from the first noisy ones I built in the 1990’s, and are far more energy efficient than the big regulated supplies we are all familiar worth, and the price point certainly makes them worth a look.

73!
Tempstar