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POWER SUPPLY TO RUN HF

Sonar

Sr. Member
Apr 8, 2016
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I recently heard an excellent station using a yeausu and hiel mic that sounded incredible! Until the fan from its external power supplys fan kicked in. It sounded like the space shuttle was taking off in the guys shack.
I don't want to make the same mistake.
Can you reomend a power supply that will run a hundred wattt HF at 13.8 22 amps for under $200 that won't have a fan that doesn't sounds like a rocket taking off?
I'd rather purchase a PS that has a constantly running cooling fan than one that kicks in with so much speed when it's time for it to cool the PS...
I don't know if a power supply that has its fan constantly running would be or is any quieter than one that kicks in when the power supply gets hot but if this is the case I'd rather own something like that. If there are power supplies for under $200 that have extremely quiet fans I'd appreciate it if you would let me know your favorite choices. Used is fine. I just want to keep it under $200. 73.
 

This is one of the reasons I like big old heavy linear type supplies over switching supplies. Switching supplies often have fans that cycle on/off or run constantly whereas linear types usually just have a large heat sink and no fans to listen too. Tripplite makes some good supplies(I use a Tripplite PR-40) as well as Astron. Not sure about the Megawatt switching supplies but they seem to get really good reviews. many folks on this forum use them.
 
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I use a 70 amp regulated Astron for my 400 watt HF amplifier. This is definitely a boat anchor but needed for running an amp up to 500 Watts. These are expensive and quiet since there are no fans.

To ease the burden from my Astron, I recently purchased a MegaWatt 35 amp switching power that I learned about in this forum.

The MegaWatt is inexpensive, small, well designed and optimized for HF radio, and the fan is relatively quiet and this will easily power 100 watt HF radios with no hash that switching power supplies are known for. Be sure that it is a genuine MegaWatt brand and not the Chineese knock-off.

Since it does have a fan, I have it sitting on a shelf under my desk so to be sure the radio mic won't pickup any fan noise.

There are bigger switching power supplies to run amps with, but will have bigger and maybe multiple fans to cool them meaning more noise.

In most cases, just keep these units on the floor away from your operating area and the noise shouldn't be a problem.
 
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I have an Astron 35amp to run any of the 100w units I have/had since the early 80's and it still works like it was new. Got a newer 70 amp and sold that within a few months (didn't like it) bought one of the 50 amp Mega-Watts and love it. As for the fan you can do two things Change the fan or put it away from the bench or both. most of the HF radios come with a 10' cord so if used in a mobile you can go right to the battery. So put it on the floor 10' feet away. mine is. just my cent and a half.
 
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The megawatt supplies fan isn't that loud. And at $60 for a 36A supply, they are hard to beat. Good filtering and no hash that i come across. Moleculo did a good review of them as well. They are a site sponsor and have power supplies from 30A to 50a. The 50A suppy is only $110. But all that is needed is the S-400-12. I use one on my Icom 746 and I don't hear the fan where the supply is located which is under my desk. The small fan runs all the time. Yes there are many other options. But for the money I'll say the megawatt supplies are worth the money and perform well. Mine stays on all weekend at times and I truly forget it's even on until uncheck everything to shut down my equipment totally. Good supply for the money. JMHO. Also you can check them out of you scroll to the bottom of the page. Like I said, they are a site sponsor I am pretty sure. And they are at least built in USA and carry a 2yr warranty. And I have heard of cases where people have brought ones in older then the 2 years and gotten a new one. Good customer support and good supplies. JMO. And it with the 50A model I don't think you'll have any issue running any HF radio you want. Heck the S-400-12 with its 36A rating will run most HF radios as well. My Icom 746 has never had an issue with not enough amperage or voltage that is for sure. Again this is just my experience. Maybe others have had bad experience with the megawatt supplies, but I have not. And I'm sure many others here will say the same. Hope this helps and have a good day.
 
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Megawatt s400 runs my ts2000 with no problems. It sits on the back of my desk not far from equipment. I have never had a complaint of fan noise. Mine is about 1.5 yrs old..fan might become louder in time as it becomes dirtier..so I've heard. I like it's small size and no hash anywhere on the spectrum that I could find. I heard made in USA which sad to say is unheard of now a days.. so far I'm very pleased.
 
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I run an Iota that is pretty quiet. Bought a couple of them several years ago, but are pretty pricey compared to the Megawatt for a good, hash free switching power supply. As CK mentioned, the Tripplite and Astron linear ones are really, really good.

A lot of it has to do with the power supply placement. Some fellas feel the need to put their power supply right next to their rig. Consequently, their nice desk mic is right there within a foot or so of the supply, and it picks up all the fan noise. Mount it further away from the mic, and you shouldn't have any problems.

73,
Brett
 
I use a 70 amp regulated Astron for my 400 watt HF amplifier. This is definitely a boat anchor but needed for running an amp up to 500 Watts. These are expensive and quiet since there are no fans.

To ease the burden from my Astron, I recently purchased a MegaWatt 35 amp switching power that I learned about in this forum.

The MegaWatt is inexpensive, small, well designed and optimized for HF radio, and the fan is relatively quiet and this will easily power 100 watt HF radios with no hash that switching power supplies are known for. Be sure that it is a genuine MegaWatt brand and not the Chineese knock-off.

Since it does have a fan, I have it sitting on a shelf under my desk so to be sure the radio mic won't pickup any fan noise.

There are bigger switching power supplies to run amps with, but will have bigger and maybe multiple fans to cool them meaning more noise.

In most cases, just keep these units on the floor away from your operating area and the noise shouldn't be a problem.
Unfortunately I don't have the room to separate the PS far enough away and the slightest possibility of the mic picking up fan noise leaves me little choice. I have to go with a PS that doesn't have a fan.
 
Unfortunately I don't have the room to separate the PS far enough away and the slightest possibility of the mic picking up fan noise leaves me little choice. I have to go with a PS that doesn't have a fan.

Don't use an amplified mic with the gain cranked up. Not sure if you do or not but if you do there is no reason that the mike should pick up that much background noise. I speak with a fairly assertive voice (NOT yelling) and close-talk any microphone I have in my hands including desk microphones so I keep any gain adjustments way down and there is never any background noise from my shack.
 
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The megawatt suppy we are speaking of isn't very large and doesn't take up very much room. And like said, run your mic properly and it shouldn't pick any noise up. Had my supply right next to my radio for a long time, and never was told I had fan noise. Only reason for me moving the my supply was to clean up the wiring and keep from seeing it. I only moved it about 2ft below where it was.
But like I said, they don't take up that much room and the fans aren't that loud. The fan in the unit we speak of (megawatt s-400-12), is not very large and doesn't make very much noise. The supply size is 7" long, 4" wide, 2" high. Just to give you an idea of how big it truly is. Or small should I say. This is the s-400-12 model. Voltage is adjustable from 9-15vdc.
Just some food for thought. Just make sure whatever you get has more than enough amperage for the job. Have a good one.
 
Unfortunately I don't have the room to separate the PS far enough away and the slightest possibility of the mic picking up fan noise leaves me little choice. I have to go with a PS that doesn't have a fan.
That being the case, I would suggest regulated power supplies like the Astron or as Captain Kilowatt mentioned Tripp lite PR 40. These are kind of big and heavy though but can sit on top of your station with no noise since they have no fans.

Be sure to look at the Power supplies continuous rating not the peak. This can be misleading since a 35 amp peak power supply has usually only a 25 amp continuous rating. Most HF rigs can run just fine on a power supply continuous rating of 25 amps which leaves a little headroom for station accessories. i.e. tuner, meters, etc.

The Astron RS-35A or the RS-35M if you want meters on the front will work fine and can be found new for around $180.00.

http://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=H0-004434
 
I've got an old 430 watt Antec computer power supply that handles 2 2sc2879s as long as I don't swing into them too hard.
power supply is on the floor with the mic about 2.5 feet away. no one I've asked can hear the fan. that's with the fan from the radio's power supply (also an old computer supply) running at the same time.
 

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