On Feb 11, 12:15*am, bpnjensen wrote:
On Feb 10, 8:55*pm, wrote:





On Feb 10, 10:56*pm, "D. Peter Maus"
wrote:

On 2/10/10 21:34 , bpnjensen wrote:

On Feb 10, 3:08 pm, "D. Peter
wrote:
On 2/10/10 16:41 , dxAce wrote:

"D. Peter Maus" wrote:
* * *I replaced my wall warts in the radio room with an Astron VS-20M.
Serious power. Serious regulation. Very clean power. Nice listening.

I use an Astron RS-20M here to power the Drake R7.

* * May be where I got the idea.

* * It's a great PS.

You could probably power a dozen R7s with 20 amps!. *I'm shooting for
the Astron 7 amp job - that should tide me over.

* *In boating...they call it *'2 foot-itis.' In audio we call it a
'4-track fix.'

* *No matter how bit a boat you have, you find it's just about 2 foot
shy of what you need for a really good party. No matter how many
channels you have, you find you need 4 more channels for the right mix.

On Feb 11, 5:15*pm, Gregg wrote:
On Feb 11, 12:15*am, bpnjensen wrote:





On Feb 10, 8:55*pm, wrote:

On Feb 10, 10:56*pm, "D. Peter Maus"
wrote:

On 2/10/10 21:34 , bpnjensen wrote:

On Feb 10, 3:08 pm, "D. Peter
wrote:
On 2/10/10 16:41 , dxAce wrote:

"D. Peter Maus" wrote:
* * *I replaced my wall warts in the radio room with an Astron VS-20M.
Serious power. Serious regulation. Very clean power. Nice listening.

I use an Astron RS-20M here to power the Drake R7.

* * May be where I got the idea.

* * It's a great PS.

You could probably power a dozen R7s with 20 amps!. *I'm shooting for
the Astron 7 amp job - that should tide me over.

* *In boating...they call it *'2 foot-itis.' In audio we call it a
'4-track fix.'

* *No matter how bit a boat you have, you find it's just about 2 foot
shy of what you need for a really good party. No matter how many
channels you have, you find you need 4 more channels for the right mix.

* *If you're figuring 7 amps, within a year, you'll be looking for 2
more amps.

* *Think future growth.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

* * * * * * * * * * Absolutely! I always expect to have a safe
operating environment, and a bigger power supply is a must, not an
overkill. In industrial installations, which run around the clock,
p.s. are mandatory to be much heftier than what seems necessary to
handle the usual load, so nothing terrible could possibly occur in the
worth case scenario. At home I played with 12V gell cells for awhile,
and was planning to acquire a deep discharge cycle battery from Sears,
eventually. *By the way Pyramid's p.s.current rating cannot be
trusted.The 7 amp claim to supply a constant *current is just not
possible at all. Their ratings (and of many,many other brands) are
based upon intermittent(!) use only. Actually, building a decent
medium size (10 -15 Amp) regulated linear p.s. is not that difficult
and parts are widely available from discarded electronics.
P.S. * Switching p.s. should be avoided by all means,if possible. Just
look how much RF the new florescent bulbs are causing lately.

Thanks Peter and Arthur - right now and foreseeably, my total demand
at maximum is probably 3 amps. *One main radio (Icom R75 - maxes at
about 1 amp), a MFJ-1026 (500 - 600 ma) and maybe one other small RX
or dsp unit at a time (1 amp max). *All the other things I have do
just great on 115 VAC. *This, after 4 decades of s-l-o-w collecting!
I have no TX and do not intend to resurrect my ancient ham license, so
that sort of larger drain will never happen.

So, at 5 amps continuous on the unit I am thinking about, that will
already give me another 100% of headroom to play with. *I know I'm a
bit odd in this respect ;-), but I don't collect stuff to run
simultaneously (My entire active shack at any one time fits on 3
square feet of tabletop).

I could get a ~12 amp I guess, but that would be considerable overkill
for anything I can foresee. *Not figuring on the Pyramid any more.
You guys and some research *have pretty much talked me into Astron :-)

Bruce- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ha! This is a good thread. FWIW - I have two Pyramids.

Gregg, How do you like them? Any reports one way or the other?

On Feb 11, 10:50*pm, bpnjensen wrote:
On Feb 11, 5:15*pm, Gregg wrote:





On Feb 11, 12:15*am, bpnjensen wrote:

On Feb 10, 8:55*pm, wrote:

On Feb 10, 10:56*pm, "D. Peter Maus"
wrote:

On 2/10/10 21:34 , bpnjensen wrote:

On Feb 10, 3:08 pm, "D. Peter
wrote:
On 2/10/10 16:41 , dxAce wrote:

"D. Peter Maus" wrote:
* * *I replaced my wall warts in the radio room with an Astron VS-20M.
Serious power. Serious regulation. Very clean power. Nice listening.

I use an Astron RS-20M here to power the Drake R7.

* * May be where I got the idea.

* * It's a great PS.

You could probably power a dozen R7s with 20 amps!. *I'm shooting for
the Astron 7 amp job - that should tide me over.

* *In boating...they call it *'2 foot-itis.' In audio we call it a
'4-track fix.'

* *No matter how bit a boat you have, you find it's just about 2 foot
shy of what you need for a really good party. No matter how many
channels you have, you find you need 4 more channels for the right mix.

* *If you're figuring 7 amps, within a year, you'll be looking for 2
more amps.

* *Think future growth.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

* * * * * * * * * * Absolutely! I always expect to have a safe
operating environment, and a bigger power supply is a must, not an
overkill. In industrial installations, which run around the clock,
p.s. are mandatory to be much heftier than what seems necessary to
handle the usual load, so nothing terrible could possibly occur in the
worth case scenario. At home I played with 12V gell cells for awhile,
and was planning to acquire a deep discharge cycle battery from Sears,
eventually. *By the way Pyramid's p.s.current rating cannot be
trusted.The 7 amp claim to supply a constant *current is just not
possible at all. Their ratings (and of many,many other brands) are
based upon intermittent(!) use only. Actually, building a decent
medium size (10 -15 Amp) regulated linear p.s. is not that difficult
and parts are widely available from discarded electronics.
P.S. * Switching p.s. should be avoided by all means,if possible. Just
look how much RF the new florescent bulbs are causing lately.

Thanks Peter and Arthur - right now and foreseeably, my total demand
at maximum is probably 3 amps. *One main radio (Icom R75 - maxes at
about 1 amp), a MFJ-1026 (500 - 600 ma) and maybe one other small RX
or dsp unit at a time (1 amp max). *All the other things I have do
just great on 115 VAC. *This, after 4 decades of s-l-o-w collecting!
I have no TX and do not intend to resurrect my ancient ham license, so
that sort of larger drain will never happen.

So, at 5 amps continuous on the unit I am thinking about, that will
already give me another 100% of headroom to play with. *I know I'm a
bit odd in this respect ;-), but I don't collect stuff to run
simultaneously (My entire active shack at any one time fits on 3
square feet of tabletop).

I could get a ~12 amp I guess, but that would be considerable overkill
for anything I can foresee. *Not figuring on the Pyramid any more.
You guys and some research *have pretty much talked me into Astron :-)

Bruce- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ha! This is a good thread. FWIW - I have two Pyramids.

Gregg, How do you like them? *Any reports one way or the other?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Actually Bruce, I have only put into service one of them. I know I
plugged in the one I have in the closet just to see if it worked, but
that is where she has set for eight to ten yrs. more than likely.

The other one I have used quite a lot and after reading this thread I
think I'll look into running it with some of my receivers. Maybe
someone more astute can tell me about the ps I have and what was
"told" to me. I don't know enough to call bull**** on it - but I got
them from a former ham friend.

They both are the "Pyramid - Model #PS-9KX"
He told me that he modified both with a slightly bigger fan and could
"do" more than it says. Is that possible? I know it's a pretty heavy
piece for its size. I did transmit off it for a couple of years on the
CB. When I would key up and talk into my Turner - the lighted red
switch never gave a hint of dimming. {?}

It reads on the front:
Input:115V AC 60Hz 70W
Output: 13.8V DC
5 AMP Constant
7 AMP Surge

But yeah Bruce, at least as far as my experience with the one - I
never had a problem with it and it has (from me at least) to have a
couple thousand hours on it.

On 2/11/10 19:15 , Gregg wrote:
On Feb 11, 12:15 am, wrote:
On Feb 10, 8:55 pm, wrote:





On Feb 10, 10:56 pm, "D. Peter
wrote:

On 2/10/10 21:34 , bpnjensen wrote:

On Feb 10, 3:08 pm, "D. Peter
wrote:
On 2/10/10 16:41 , dxAce wrote:

"D. Peter Maus" wrote:
I replaced my wall warts in the radio room with an Astron VS-20M.
Serious power. Serious regulation. Very clean power. Nice listening.

I use an Astron RS-20M here to power the Drake R7.

May be where I got the idea.

It's a great PS.

You could probably power a dozen R7s with 20 amps!. I'm shooting for
the Astron 7 amp job - that should tide me over.

In boating...they call it '2 foot-itis.' In audio we call it a
'4-track fix.'

No matter how bit a boat you have, you find it's just about 2 foot
shy of what you need for a really good party. No matter how many
channels you have, you find you need 4 more channels for the right mix.

If you're figuring 7 amps, within a year, you'll be looking for 2
more amps.

Think future growth.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Absolutely! I always expect to have a safe
operating environment, and a bigger power supply is a must, not an
overkill. In industrial installations, which run around the clock,
p.s. are mandatory to be much heftier than what seems necessary to
handle the usual load, so nothing terrible could possibly occur in the
worth case scenario. At home I played with 12V gell cells for awhile,
and was planning to acquire a deep discharge cycle battery from Sears,
eventually. By the way Pyramid's p.s.current rating cannot be
trusted.The 7 amp claim to supply a constant current is just not
possible at all. Their ratings (and of many,many other brands) are
based upon intermittent(!) use only. Actually, building a decent
medium size (10 -15 Amp) regulated linear p.s. is not that difficult
and parts are widely available from discarded electronics.
P.S. Switching p.s. should be avoided by all means,if possible. Just
look how much RF the new florescent bulbs are causing lately.

Thanks Peter and Arthur - right now and foreseeably, my total demand
at maximum is probably 3 amps. One main radio (Icom R75 - maxes at
about 1 amp), a MFJ-1026 (500 - 600 ma) and maybe one other small RX
or dsp unit at a time (1 amp max). All the other things I have do
just great on 115 VAC. This, after 4 decades of s-l-o-w collecting!
I have no TX and do not intend to resurrect my ancient ham license, so
that sort of larger drain will never happen.

So, at 5 amps continuous on the unit I am thinking about, that will
already give me another 100% of headroom to play with. I know I'm a
bit odd in this respect ;-), but I don't collect stuff to run
simultaneously (My entire active shack at any one time fits on 3
square feet of tabletop).

I could get a ~12 amp I guess, but that would be considerable overkill
for anything I can foresee. Not figuring on the Pyramid any more.
You guys and some research have pretty much talked me into Astron :-)

Bruce- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ha! This is a good thread.


Oh, well, then it will have to stop, at once.


FWIW - I have two Pyramids.


Which models?