Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Open Roads Radio forum for Ham, Amateur Radio and RV camping


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 07-10-2008, 08:37 AM   #1
Richard Stouffer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 188
Default Astron RS-70M

Anybody have any experience with one of these? I've been having some problems running my solid state amp from one with little success. When I talked to a fellow at the amp factry he said they had seen several problems with those amps- RFI and insufficient power among them.
Richard Stouffer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2008, 11:51 AM   #2
w7wv
Senior Member
 
w7wv's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SE AZ
Posts: 239
Default

I have had to 20 and 50 series amps from them and never a problem.
I don't have them anymore as I am getting ready for full time but if I remember right the 50 had two sets of terminals.
Make sure you are using the right ones and not exceeding any sustained ratings for them.
These are some notes I found on eHam about it. Note the last one.

KC4CP Rating: 5/5 Jul 30, 2006 21:02 Send this review to a friend
The BIG BOY! Time owned: more than 12 months
Now this thing is a "REAL" Power Supply! It will run everything in your shack ... and then some.

I have used my RS 70 to power my Ameritron ALS-500 amplifier. It works like a charm (it is important to use large guage wire & as short a run as possible). I know others who run the Ten Tec Hercules using this power supply.

It is big, it is heavy, it is powerful! I have owned two. After 10 years of service ... Zero problems to report! Enough said.

W5ZZQ Rating: 5/5 Aug 8, 2005 10:11 Send this review to a friend
Best made Time owned: more than 12 months
JUST THE BEST POWER SUPPLY OUT THERE. GREAT!

KA5ROW Rating: 4/5 Jul 12, 2005 22:07 Send this review to a friend
Good Heavy Duty Power Supply Time owned: more than 12 months
This is a good heavy duty power supply, but I am a little disappointed with its overrated specs.
And the Q/A department
I however, do not think its fair to rate this the RS-70 A or M as a 70 amp power supply. They should be rated as a 57 amp power supply. With intermittent 70 amp peaks. I don't know if you could use the P/S with a amplifier that pulled 60 or 65 amps on SSB peeks. I would think after a short time something would give out.
I use the P/S to power a TE-System 1452G 400 watt amplifier. On FM pulls about 52 amps. SSB Intermittent peeks to 52 amps. The P/S gets very hot, so hot you can not put your hand on the base of the P/S. The fan has kicked on only one time that I can remember. I sure the thermal control was not working. So I by passed it, now the fan runs all the time and the P/S is much cooler. All of my other P/S the fan runs all the time.
I called Astron got someone who could not speak English very well, and I could not get a clear answer as to why the cooling fan never ran. I don't think he really knew enough English to understand me and the point I tried to get across.
A 2nd issue was when I got the P/S one of the insulators between a regulator and heat sink was hanging by one end. It was an easy fix but a very obvious Q/A problem.
w7wv is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2008, 04:21 PM   #3
Richard Stouffer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 188
Default

Thanks. I can second the comments on being over rated. The one I have bulks at 60 amp draw and my amp will shut down when that happens. I've switched to a 100 AH deep cycle battery which eliminates that problem, but I want to eventually parallel the battery to the power supply.
Richard Stouffer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2008, 10:39 PM   #4
N7OQ
Senior Member
 
N7OQ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Yuba City, Ca
Posts: 304
Default

I have the RS-35 and have never had a problem with it. I have never load banked it but It will power my HF station and vhf/uhf radio at the same time with no problem. Is the 70 a switcher or and Linear power supply?
__________________
73 de Bill, (N7OQ)
RV: 2006 Outback 23RS
USAF Retired, God Bless our Troops
Licensed in 1978 ex N7AFX, DA1VW, KK6GR
N7OQ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2008, 09:56 AM   #5
w7wv
Senior Member
 
w7wv's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SE AZ
Posts: 239
Default

I see the duty cycle of the RS-70 is 57 amps.
What does your power amp peak at?
w7wv is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2008, 09:59 AM   #6
One Country Boy
Senior Member
 
One Country Boy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Wewahitchka, FL
Posts: 1,204
Default

I have two 50's and two 35's. All are metered. Have had a couple of other smaller ones in the past. I had a diode go in one of them. That's the only problem I've ever had.



__________________
Jim ~ W4EWA
One Country Boy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-11-2008, 03:52 PM   #7
Richard Stouffer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 188
Default

My amp peaks at 70 watts, according to the spec, but only on digital/CW. However, in SSB, the power supply shows max on the meter which is 70 amps. When it runs that high the amp trips.
Richard Stouffer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2008, 03:00 PM   #8
Manual Garcia O'Kely
Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 96
Default

You never posted if you solved your problem, but I believe that there is a way to boostrap two 70 amp Astrons together to make a higher capacity supply - there's some sort of interconnect made between the two for control.

You did not post what make/model amp you are powering, but I know that most of the 12 volt amps draw well over 40 amps average on SSB so I can believe you might exceed the 57 amp Astron rating. The SGC Power cube is rated 500 watts, 40 amps SSB, 80 amps CW key down - so that 40 is an average.

I suspect you find the battery in parallel with the power supply to work fine - and it should - the battery will be quickly recharged during receive as the amp meter will tell you. With a 100 amp/hour battery you are probably doing fine. With a 220 a/hr you should be excellent.
Manual Garcia O'Kely is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-20-2008, 09:02 PM   #9
Richard Stouffer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 188
Default

Thanks for the follow up.

Temporarily I've switched to an Ameritorn AL 811 that I had laying around. The amp I was powering with the Astron is the Power Cube. A friend told me That he believes there is a problem with the Power Cube using the automatic activation form the RF of the t4anceiver, It's his theory that draw is greater than the 70 amps. He put together a relay that will virtually activate the amp manually. When I get some time I'll hook that up an try to run the Astron.

I'll let you know how that works out.
Richard Stouffer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-08-2011, 01:23 AM   #10
W6CD
Escondido, CA
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 9
Default

I power my SGC-500 from a Astron RS-70M. Works fine. I only do SSB. I understand it would not be enough power if I did higher duty cycle modes.
W6CD is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:20 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
×