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write your own review of the Astron SS-25M.
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G3VGR
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 10, 2004 14:25
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Great product
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have the SS-25 vanilla model without the meters which I bought from HRO. It's been in continuous use for about 4 years, living under the desk in a not too well ventilated area. As well as being 100% reliable, it doesn't generate any noise that I can notice either. Astron certainly know how to make power supplies.
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K2XH
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 5, 2002 13:05
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OK
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Mine has been in light duty use for a couple of years, the fan used to come on about every 10 minutes weather I was Xmitting or not. I have since moved it to a more vented spot, that seemed to have cured it. Mine also has a lighted power button. Its a good quiet (RF) supply. But the next one I buy will be a rs35.
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AB0UK
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 24, 2002 18:02
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Great...but...read on!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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This supply was purchased new from HRO and has been in my shack about 4 months. About two weeks ago it went dead in the middle of a QSO on 2 meters. It was hot to the touch. The fan ran the first few weeks, but I could not remember hearing it since. Troubleshooting found the fan worked and there was 12 volts on it's plug. I ordered a replacement thermal switch from Astron for the fan which arrived in about 10 days. (It was easier at $4.25, including postage, to order the part than to pack up the power supply and try and get it replaced.) It was quit a chore to get the old thermal switch out and the new one in. In the process I found three leads on a small transformer had only been tack soldered and did not have a good mechanical solder connection. Now the supply works fine and the fan operates a few minutes every hour or so of idle time or more frequent if loaded. I've heard of two other similiar instances recently of the above type problem. Maybe Astron got a bad batch of thermal switches??
BTW, when purchased the volt meter read about a half volt higher than the output voltage. A simple adjustment of a potentiometer inside near the back of the meter took care of that.
A compact light weight switching supply that amazes me that it can crank out 20 amps with apparent ease.
Jim, AB0UK
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KD7DYV
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Rating: 4/5
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Aug 4, 2001 01:32
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Pretty Steady!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Really stable little supply. Takes 20Amps pretty easy. Well built inside, but had to adjust trimmer to 13.8v, down from 14.7v when I first recieved it. Also required slight Volt meter adjustment, (easily done by built in trimmer, a plus) Amp meter is right on, by Fluke 87. Rock steady operation once adjusted. Have yet to have the cooling fan come on, so I can't say if it is quiet or not. Positive terminal is now red, and it now has an illuminated power switch. Gave unit a four due to lack of schematic and no illumitation of the meters (I have a thing for well lit meters). Solid supply, would definetly recommend.
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W6CQA
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Rating: 4/5
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May 30, 2001 17:33
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Great Little Supply
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've owned this power supply for about 2-1/2 years with no problems. Have never heard a hint of RFI on any band from 160 thru 2 meters. Regulation is pretty good though not as good as their boat anchor power supplies. The lack of a positive red terminal is no real problem for me. Positive terminal is the upper one and it is stamped in the case, though a little hard to see. The supply has had no problem providing fully regulated power for three different 100 watt rigs that I have used it with, even on FM. The fan does come on whenever I'm running 100 watts FM but not until I've been on my soap box for a while. I have two nit picks. There is no pilot light to indicate when the supply is on. Yes, this one has meters on it but they are not eye catching like a panel lamp. I installed a nice red panel mount LED just above the power switch. It looks nice and is effective. Second, there was no operators manual or schematic with it. How "cheap" can you get? True, it doesn't take a highly skilled electronic tech. to connect two wires and flip a switch but it would be nice to know what the specks are and at least a little schematic for those of us to use in case of a failure. Other than that, it's a great little supply, attractive and small.
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