What power supply do you recommend for SO2R operations

Martin Bérubé · August 2020

I have participated in the WW DIGI contest last weekend. That was my first SO2R operations ever. I was using a Flex 6600. Evertthing went well but, at the end of the contest, my power supply decided to show some disagrements after a day of near continus tramsmission.

So here is my question to experienced Flex SO2R operators. What kind of power supply do you use or recommant for your radio.

Thanks,

Tim - W4TME · August 2020

I have always had excellent performance from my Astron RS-35M. It has been going strong for close to 20 years.

Tim K9WX · August 2020

I have been using an Astron RS-35M with my 6600 for several years for SO2R with good results and no problems. I don't run a lot of other station accessories off of it, however. Typically just a KAT500 antenna tuner and a SixPak antenna switch.

With two slices open, the meter on the power supply shows a 14 amp current draw when transmitting on FT8. This is considerably lower than the 25 amp requirement stated in the 6600 hardware reference manual.

Joe N3HEE · September 2020

What do you mean by disagreements ? The RS-35 should be fine for what you are doing. I use the Astron RS-50M. More than enough current to run multiple radios and accessories. It also runs a little cooler during long contests. I never pay attention to the meters. You can save some $$ and go with RS-50A.

Martin Bérubé · September 2020

Joe,

This mean a capacitor blew up. Is is a RS-32A

Thank you for your comment.

Joe N3HEE · September 2020

Who is the manufacturer of that power supply ? Astron makes very good highly reliable power supplies.

Martin Bérubé · September 2020

It's an Astron RS-35A

EBSDallas · September 2020

I use a pair of RS-35A’s. One powers only the radio (6600). The other runs various shack accessories (HF-Auto, antenna switch etc.). I have had both for years and have not had a problem with either of them except for the incandescent meter lights burning out (replaced with blue leds). While I often run digital modes, I do not do any digital contesting. I do run a little casual cw contesting and a lot of serious phone contesting and they have kept up without issue. Does yours run more than just the rig? It’s always possible yours had/has a marginal component in it that isn’t up to the stress imposed by extended digital contesting. It might be worth a call to Astron. I’ve always found them to be very helpful and pleasant to deal with.

Stan VA7NF · September 2020

The best configuration is a 10-100 Ah battery with marine circuit breaker (low resistance, no fuse contacts to film over) that is charged by any of the suggested power supplies through an appropriate charger - I am not recommending any specific hardware as it will change with the battery type chosen. Note: Many Li-ion batteries have enclosed charge controllers so they can be charged directly from the PS.

The advantages are:

+ Pure DC with most PS birdies filtered out and a .01 uf mica for HF+ and .1uf capacitor for audio in parallel across the battery helps even more

+ Several hours operation if the power drops, even better bridging a partial second drop often due to lightning

+ I use a 7 Ah Li-ion bicycle battery + Marine 30A breaker (protection + on/off switch) mounted inside my grab and go box; as well have a 110 Ah AGM inside my shack

+ Fairly even draw on the PS as the battery takes the surge, also lighter gauge is possible if your PS is distant; but use 8 or 10 between battery and rig

What power supply do you recommend for SO2R operations

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