Shackmaster Power 500 Compact Desktop 36A|13.8V Power Supply

[SWAMPER]

WOW..... Great power Supply Santa I've been good this year!

Shackmaster Power 500 Compact Desktop 36A|13.8V Power Supply

https://www.gigaparts.com/shackmaster-p ... upply.html

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[SWAMPER]

The back USB is to connect to your computer so you can get all the data of your power ports.

[Michael M]

I see RigExpert is expanding their horizons... very nice.

So, did you get an early Christmas gift, or are your hopes high this season?

[dpomerantz]

Funny, I looked at this last night on GigaParts website. It does read like a good power supply unit with a touchscreen. A little pricier than others but hopefully that's worth the cost.

[SWAMPER]

I see RigExpert is expanding their horizons... very nice.

So, did you get an early Christmas gift, or are your hopes high this season?

Trying to butter up the jolly old fella...... trying to keep on good terms with him! LOL

[aj1q]

Looks like a great power supply.

My personal recommendation for someone that uses HF extensively would be a good quality linear power supply. Regardless of the efforts made to keep a switching power supply "RF quiet," all switching supplies have some manner of impact on HF operations.

My personal recommendation is the Astron series. I have had an Astron RS-35A running continuously for over 30 years with no issues (and it is completely RF silent as well as acoustically silent as no fans are required as in a switching power supply.)

Just food for thought....

73
Chris

[cbenulis]

I was looking at the specs for the Shackmaster Power 500 and it showed: Noise 200mVp-p


I sold my Astron 30amp (SMB30) switcher used on my 7300 after seeing the same 200mvPP noise and the
broad spectrum noise effect on the 7300 bands. The LC filter cut down to 20mv at output.
My next PS would be Linear.


I use only batteries Bioenno for my IC-705.
For electronic work I use batteries or LC filter with any switcher. (Amazon sells them 12$ however limit seems 20 amps)


A whole other subject is noise (LED arrays, Wall transformers, LED light bulbs, UPS's.....

LC.jpg

[Michael M]

Bruce,

I wanted to wait until I knew whether you had already received this or you were considering it. I will tell you that I concur with what Chris and Conrad have said, which is why for my desktop operations I chose a linear power supply... specifically, an Astron RS-35M-AP. Obviously, in my big go box a linear PSU wouldn't be feasible, which is why I went with an Astron switching PSU.

I would want a power supply that has over voltage protection. The Astron uses a crowbar circuit to prevent over voltage. Other designs, using a MOSFET, are faster. I'll let Chris, if he would like to, talk about those differences.

Switching power supplies do have their place in ham radio so long as the user knows the caveats.

Astron is a very well-known and established manufacturer in this space. There are very few detractors, but they do exist. Some time ago, I was reading about a linear power supply claimed better than Astron, but not as well known. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the manufacturer. As I recall, the application the group was discussing was a repeater, with a much greater duty cycle than we would have in our shacks.

That manufacturer may be found in either of these links that I have in my bookmarks for this power supply. I don't have time to go through them right now, and you may find them useful.

https://www.repeater-builder.com/astron ... index.html
https://www.repeater-builder.com/astron ... parts.html

[Michael M]

I have had an Astron RS-35A running continuously for over 30 years with no issues

That's impressive, although not uncommon for this manufacturer. As best I can recall, there are very few changes today from that model. Probably the most significant is the regulator chip, and that should not be an issue at all.