Cheers and Jeers for the Maestro C Power Supply

Peter K1PGV

Look: I have a brand new Maestro C. I'm loving it. But that doesn't mean I can't find at SOMEthing to "complain" about 😀

Cheers: Bravo to Flex for choosing the use a Mean Well power brick, as opposed to some off-brand junk. Mean Well makes a great product, and it's nice to have "little things" like a light on the power brick that shows the power is on.

The battery itself also seems to be well chosen… so thanks for that!

Jeers: Booo for thickness and stiffness of the power cord from the power brick to the Maestro. I view the Maestro as a device that should be easy to move around, even when plugged in, like a laptop. Also, the length of the supplied IEC cable from the power brick is (at one foot) waaaay too short for my taste. (Yes… I do realize that the power cord and the connector from the brick are a "standard" Mean Well configuration).

Neither Cheer or Jeer: Monday Morning Engineering

In retrospect, it's too bad the Maestro didn't just use a USB C connector (with a 20V/5A profile — or, if you REALLY wanted to be cool, you could use USB PD 3.1's 28V/5A profile) for power. That would give folks tons of options for cables and power supplied. Yes, I realize it's easier to engineer in retrospect that in advance. 😉

Gord-VA7GP

+1 for USB PD3.1

Maybe Maestro D … 😁

Peter K1PGV

I'm toying with the idea of cooking-up a Maestro-to-USB C adapter plug that has the necessary USB PD circuitry inside it. In other words, it'd have a Maestro plug on one side and a USB C socket on the other, so I could use a USB C charger with my Maestro.

I'm a ham… I can't help but want to tinker with stuff like this.😎

OTOH, I also don't welcome the idea of potentially wiring the adapter wrong and frying my brand new Maestro. Ahhhh… What was it that William H. Calvin said about pioneers? 🤣

Gord-VA7GP

@Peter K1PGV

After sleeping on this idea for a night: Your idea is Fantastic!!

PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY 😁

USB-C power supplies are ubiquitous for all my laptops, usually in the 95W region.

Peter K1PGV

LOL… I'm glad somebody else thinks this is a good idea, and that I'm not off in the weeds. But, I won't take your money, Gord. 😁

If and when I do this (the parts have all been ordered), I'll definitely publish the how-to on my web site. If things go as planned, it should be a very simple do-it-yourself project (with the attendant "not my responsibility… your project, your risk" associated with it).