Well, gang, our Seattle monsoon rains are about to begin, and with it the
heating season. I recently reorganized my operating table. I used to have
a hutch, but it was just not quite wide enough to keep both my Omni VI and
another radio under it. This meant I used much more horizontal desk space
than needed.
Now that I've eliminated the hutch, I can have my computer and all radios
on one table. There's just one catch. My Ten-Tec Model 962 power supply
for the Omni used to be atop the hutch. It ended up on the floor, on top
of a large book that raises it off the shag carpet. Unfortunately, there
is a baseboard radiator running the length of the wall underneath the
operating table. My house heat is circulating hot water at a maximum
temperature of 180 deg. F, but mostly left at 160. The baseboard is NOT
red-hot electric.
My question: Is it all right to run the power supply on the floor when the
heat is on? I have placed the supply sideways, a few inches from the
baseboard. The top of the supply's cooling fins are a little shorter than
the slit where the hot air comes out of the baseboard. Since hot air
rises, the cooling fins should be getting the cooler air right off the
floor.
Alternative: I could extend the DC power cable a few feet so that the
supply will not be under the table. This might cause voltage drop problems.
I also could put the supply at the reat of the operating table, sideways,
so that the cooling fins are about two inches away from the left side of
the Omni VI, toward the rear. There would be nothing immediately above the
fins, but the rest of the supply would be underneath the rear of a 17"
computer monitor. This might leave me open to the common "hum and magnetic
interaction with the rig" problem, plus possible magnetic distortion of the
monitor image, not to mention that hot air from the cooling fins might be
drawn into the monitor. As you know, those supplies get nice and toasty
warm when transmitting.
If you were me, what would you do?
73 from KD7MW,
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