[TenTec] Fwd: Re: best power supply for Orion II and other items

[John Molenda]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [TenTec] best power supply for Orion II and other items
Date: 	Sun, 21 Nov 2010 19:52:04 -0500
From: 	John Molenda <cdistflatfoot at gmail.com>
To: 	TEN TEC DISCUSSION <tentec at contesting.com>





I was a bit caviler when describing the noise I had on the radio Last 
night , thinking it was not important part of the puzzle so here goes .  
I was getting a 20 to 40 over spike reading on the Orion II analog meter 
1st on 40 and then I tryed 80, 160 and 10 with the same out come the 
needle would go back and fourth every couple of seconds  from 20 to 40 
over rhythmically and accompanying that was a loud rhythmic noise ( loud 
static ) coming over the speakers . when I first encountered this I went 
through the house with my son turning off everything electronic lights , 
dimmer switches , computers etc .  when I finally came to trying the 
radio with a different power supply the interference went away and all 
was OK .  I also for a time left the original power supply on and found 
that with the switch left in the on position and plugged in the supply 
would go on and off intermittently . Well /now you know the rest of the 
story  . Paul Harvey


John Kb2huk
/
On 11/21/2010 4:47 PM, Mike Hyder -N4NT- wrote:
> The 35 amp linear Astron supplies used a floating output so they could 
> be used with either positive or negative ground applications.  For our 
> use, the negative post of the Astron should be grounded to the unit's 
> cabinet/chassis.  I think the Astron supply is good but if the 
> negative output post is not grounded to the cabinet/chassis then RF 
> energy gets into the regulator circuitry...
>
> Follows my correspondence with Astron some years ago:
> Once upon a time some Astron power supplies had a floating output, 
> neither
> positive nor negative was connected to the chassis.  For laboratory work,
> this was just fine.  But with radio transmitters, problems sometimes 
> arose
> because RF energy could enter through the negative post and go 
> directly to
> the voltage regulator circuitry.
>
> Astron became aware of this and suggested grounding the negative post 
> to the
> chassis.  I did it by taking the post out, removing the insulators, 
> cleaning
> paint from around the hole and reinstalling the post with no insulation.
> Many reported they had never had a problem with their Astrons but I 
> did and
> apparently it was common.  Below is my correspondence with Astron:
>
>      To:  "Ten-Tec Reflector" <tentec at contesting.com>
>      Subject:  [TenTec] Astron Power Supply (RS-35) from the horse's 
> mouth
>      From:  "Mike Hyder -N4NT-" <Mike_N4NT at charter.net>
>      Reply-to:  Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec at contesting.com>
>      Date:  Tue, 5 Dec 2006 21:04:25 -0500
>      List-post: <mailto:tentec at contesting.com>
>
> [TenTec] Your semi-annual Astron tip...
>
> People come and go from this reflector. This is a reminder that many
> troubles with Astron power supplies can be cured by grounding the 
> negative
> post to the cabinet.  I did it by removing the insulators from the 
> negative
> post, scraping some paint from around the hole and putting a 
> lockwasher on
> the post when reinstalling.  Below is my correspondence with them 
> about it.
>
> Merry Christmas,
> Mike -N4NT-
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ASTRON" <sales at astroncorp.com>
> To: "Mike Hyder" <N4NT at chartertn.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 6:06 PM
> Subject: Re: RS-35 in an RF environment
>
> MIKE.
>
> 1ST CHECK YOUR AC OUTLET GROUND IT MUST HAVE GOOD CONNECTION
>
> 2ND. MEASURE FROM THE -13.8V TERMINAL TO CHASSIS, IF NO DIRECT 
> CONNECTION,
> RUN A PIECE OF WIRE FROM -13.8V TERMINAL TO CHASSIS.
>
> JANE
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mike Hyder <N4NT at chartertn.net
> To: <eastron at astroncorp.com
> Sent: Tuesday, November 13, 2001 7:56 AM
> Subject: RS-35 in an RF environment
>
> Several people have advised me that Astron had a service bulletin for the
> Astron RS-35 (and possibly other models) which advised to strap the 
> negative
> post of the supply to the cabinet to reduce or eliminate problems caused
> when RF energy affects the supply's regulation.  This is in particular a
> frequent problem in the amateur radio service.
>
> Could you confirm such bulletin and either email it to me or point me 
> to the
> URL that will allow me to view it, please?
>
> Many thanks,
> Mike Hyder
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Molenda" 
> <cdistflatfoot at gmail.com>
> To: "TEN TEC DISCUSSION" <tentec at contesting.com>
> Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2010 3:50 PM
> Subject: [TenTec] best power supply for Orion II and other items
>
>
>> Hello , I have been having some trouble with rfi and strange impulse
>> noise on RX I have traced it down to a bad power supply .  I will be
>> replacing this power supply with another to power my Orion II and a
>> couple other items so a ps with a high amp rating of say 35 or so might
>> just be what I need .  Who makes the best ps I have been looking at the
>> alinco products and like them I have had trouble with astron but have
>> very good luck with Pyramid Ps.  any suggestions I am replacing a 963
>> for the curious . any suggestions ?  thanks John kb2huk
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>