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UPS Recommendations for use with Aurora

n0mdh
n0mdh Member ✭✭
in Aurora
Hi All,

I've presently got a 6600M connected to a West Mountain Radio Epic PWRgate which, with my pair of paralleled 23 amp Dakota Lithium LiFePO4 batteries, makes for a good UPS.

This obviously won't work with the Aurora I have on order. What is everyone planning for a UPS? i.e. What is a good UPS that won't introduce interference?

73,
Mike N0MDH
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Comments

  • Eric W1NEJ
    Eric W1NEJ Member ✭✭

    I have my 6600 on a rack mount Astron power supply, which is powered through an APC 1500 VA sine wave UPS. I use that just to keep the 6600 from suffering damage that might be caused by a power outage, I would not actually operate the radio on the UPS during a power failure. As well, the UPS has a fair amount of surge protection built in to it.

    The specific APC unit I use is the BR1500MS2

    It causes no interference.

    I will try using this with the Aurora since it says it only draws about 700 watts and Flex says it will work well on a 120 volt circuit. Hopefully it will have a decent power factor so it will not overload the 1500 VA rating of the UPS

    However, I may also want to power the Aurora on my 240 volt circuit I now use for my amp.

    Time will tell how this works out.

  • Andrew Thall
    Andrew Thall Member ✭✭



    ,I plan on operating my 510 on a 240v that I used for my amp. I intend to ha ve both a 120v and a 240v power cord. That will facilitate portable operation.

  • Dman865FRUG
    Dman865FRUG Member ✭
    That's a good question. I've not reserved/purchased an Aurora yet but plan to. What battery to run off of in case of emergency is a topic of interest. I've run my other HF rig off my Ecoflow Delta Pro in a Field Day configuration, and also had it connected to portable solar for charging at the same time - noticed no noise or issues. It is pure sine wave. Thought I'd run the Aurora with it like I do my other rigs. Being that the Aurora can run off a regular 120V outlet is amazing. I have APC 1500 VA sine wave backups for my work laptop and my VHF/UHF and HF rigs as well. They too work great, just less run time.
  • OE1MWW
    OE1MWW Member ✭✭

    Be warned: From my experience with several UPS units, they meet their specifications only under constant load conditions. While PC servers draw a relatively steady current, an SSB/CW transceiver does not. The UPS output showed power dropouts synchronized with voice peaks or CW key-down intervals.
    73s Wolfgang, OE1MWW

  • n0mdh
    n0mdh Member ✭✭

    great point Wolfgang.


    @Flexradio team, a preferred vendor/model list would be appreciated

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin

    We have not tested nor do we plan to test any UPS devices. There are just too many variables and not enough hours in the day.

    I can tell you that at 500 watts, the unit draws just over 6A @ 120VAC. Please heed Wolfgang's comments.

  • Eric W1NEJ
    Eric W1NEJ Member ✭✭

    The question then comes, is Wolfgang referring to the drop outs occurring whilst the UPS was operating with the AC line providing power, or when operating on battery providing power?

    I was planning to keep my AU520 connected to my APC sine wave UPS to protect it from power surges as well as times when power fails momentarily, but not actually operate the radio during a power failure. I have had corruption of the firmware that is on the micro SD card before.

    Another question might be what is the power factor of the AU series as the UPSes are rated in VA not watts.

  • n0mdh
    n0mdh Member ✭✭

    Based on the previous comments, I plan to just select a quality sine wave capable UPS with at least double the capacity of the Aurora's requirements.

  • Mike-VA3MW
    Mike-VA3MW Administrator, FlexRadio Employee, Community Manager, Super Elmer, Moderator admin
    edited January 8

    The issue isn't the sine wave as much as it is the ability to provide surge power.

    The 2 - 48 volt power supplies in the radio are made by MeanWell.

    You also want to make sure you UPS does not provide any additional HF noise that might affect your Noise Floor.

  • OE1MWW
    OE1MWW Member ✭✭
    edited January 9

    "Online UPS" converts AC to DC and back to AC, providing zero transfer time to battery. "Offline UPS" (standby) passes mains power directly to loads until an outage, then switches with a 4-10 ms delay to battery - and convert back to AC. The goal of all manufacturers is a long supply time for a given load under AC power outage. (That's what they want to show on their spec sheets) And this can only be achieved with a load regulator. All these UPS are actually unsuitable for SSB/CW because in these operating modes we demand a load that fluctuates rapidly between near to zero to full load. Unfortunately, trial and error is the only viable way, because there are zillion of different UPS producers on the market. 73s Wolfgang, OE1MWW

  • OE1MWW
    OE1MWW Member ✭✭

    …and a little help of AI with link plus a hint for @Eric W1NEJ about the APC BR1500MS2

    UPS-Info.pdf

    attached UPS-Info.pdf

  • n0mdh
    n0mdh Member ✭✭

    I'm thinking about these:

    Eaton SU1500XLCD
    https://assets.tripplite.com/product-pdfs/en/su1500xlcd.pdf
    ~$1200

    Eaton SU2200XLCD
    https://assets.tripplite.com/product-pdfs/en/su2200xlcd.pdf
    ~$1600

  • Eric W1NEJ
    Eric W1NEJ Member ✭✭
    edited January 9

    I once had an Alpha On-Line UPS. After sending it back to Alpha for repairs twice due to failures, I went back to APC, but a Sine Wave APC UPS for my Astron transformer based power supply, but with the Mean-Well switching type PSUs in the Aurora, it probably does not matter.

    I shall see how my UPS deals with this. I do not think the AVR transformer is in the circuit in a meaningful way very often unless my line voltage gets significantly higher or lower than nominal. Hopefully the widely varying power demand of CW and SSB will not be a problem when the UPS is powered from the 120 volt line.

    However, since the UPS is designed for coputer load which use non-linear switching power supplies like the Mean-Well power supplies in the Aurora, one would think that the AVR should be able to handle a non-linear load

    discuss AVR transformer circuit in APC BR1500 M2 U.pdf

    Attached a little more AI generated info about AVR circuits.

    Now if only Flex will ship my 520 then I could actually test this.

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