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| Reviews Summary for Astron RS-20A |
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write your own review of the Astron RS-20A.
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K8DK
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Rating: 5/5
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May 18, 2008 18:16
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Excellent
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Purchased 35M in 1981 and it has been on almost continuous. Great power suppply.
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WB2FTX
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Rating: 3/5
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May 18, 2008 17:41
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Not very impressed
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I am going to go against most of the reviews for this power supply... I have had it three months (purchased new from HRO) in continous operation powering my Kenwood TS-450S which is running 24/7 as a Pactor MBO... It ran fine until last week when I came into the shack and found both the radio and the power supply off. First thing I did was to check the fuse... Where is it? Had to open it up to find it.. Fuse blown. Put in another fuse, blew again.. Disconnected the transformer secondaries from the bridge rectifier. Fuse held.... Diodes in the two bridges shorted out..They are using 2 25 amp bridges wired in parallel with no equalization between them... Unless they are evenly matched one is going to handle most of the load while the other one just loafs along..Found that this is a very common failure mode in Astron power supplies and could be easily cured with a component rated for this service rather than putting two together.. I have ordered a grossly overrated 1000 v PIV bridge rated at 50 amp to replace these and hope that is the end of the problem... No warning of failure and only after 3 months of service... The only reason I will keep it is that it is probably better than most of the power power supplies available and that switching supplies introduced a lot of RF hash all across the HF spectrum
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W4RIG
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 13, 2007 08:45
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Excellent Service for over 9 years
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My Astron RS-20A has been a reliable source of 13.5 V DC power for over 9 years in intermittant (not constant) service. I would recommend this power supply for any base operation for mobile rigs of various types. It is a heavyweight item and probably not highly desirable for back packing or portable use unless you don't have far to lug your equipment and have a reliable source of 110 V AC power.
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KE7DZS
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 6, 2007 16:49
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Will it ever die?
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Mine has been on since 1985 and It works as expected. It is well made and dependable. You can't go wrong with the Astron RS-20A.
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PU2TYB
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 17, 2007 16:24
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EXCELLENT!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had this power supply since 1996 and besides the front led not working which I don't care it still works great.
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N6NKN
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 6, 2007 18:29
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I Forget Its There.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I guess that my forgetfullness stems from the fact that I have had it for 10 years, and it has never caused me any problems. I am currently using it to power one automatic tuner, two automatic coax switches, an SWR/Power meter, two scanners, an Icom CT-17 and an Icom IC-28A. Recently the Icom switching power supply for my venerable IC-735 developed a terminal regulation failure. My 735 is now running proudly again thanks to a shiny new Astron RS-35M.
If I ever need another power supply, you can bet it will be an Astron.
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W5AOX
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 10, 2007 09:32
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Good, with problems
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My Astron has been in service for around 15 years. I have learned to use Astrons if I want really regulated DC available with no hum, voltage sag, etc, at the rated output.
If left on continuously, and occasionally being called upon to produce close to the 20 amp rating, my RS-20A develops black corrosion around the lock washers and screws attaching the big filter capacitor to the main board. Over the years I've had to disassemble mine several times to replace and/or tighten these screws and washers. It's easy to tell when this happens: Your transmitter will develop a pronounced hum when it normally has none.
I've had to replace the 723 regulator only once in all these years, unlike some of the smaller and earlier Astron supplies.
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KL7AC
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 12, 2006 23:29
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Flawless
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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An absolute transparent part of my shack. Originally purchased in 1989 at AES Las Vegas when I renewed my license as WL7BTL.
Has powered many radios over the years and I have forget it is even there. Now the main load is on two back up batteries with the 20A supplying the charge.
Quite and reliable and will be with me for the next 15 years.
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HR2PAC
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 23, 2005 22:07
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The Best!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought this particular unit new in 1999 here in Honduras and it is great!! this PS has never let me down and I have owned MFJ in the past, no comparison whatsoever. If you are serious and professional about your communications use Astron, I operate a commercial UHF two way radio company in Honduras and all of my customers use Astron with no problems, my repeaters use the SS-18 model. The only thing that bugs me a bit about the RS-20A is the heat although it has one of the biggest heat sink I've seen on a PS it puts it out like a son of a gun!! oh well a small price to pay to the HF Gods I guess. Bottom line: can't go wrong anywhere with Astron Power - worth it.
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K7JBQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 23, 2005 09:47
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Update
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Time owned: months
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Update to my post of last July.
Monday the Astron finally acted up. Popping fuses.
Since Astron is local to me, I called the factory. The guy said, "bring it in, and ask for Fred."
Next morning, Fred took it back into the shop and came back out a half hour later. The diodes had shorted. Cause? "Probably just old age," he said. I should mention that this particular RS-20A was built in 1983.
While he had it open, he also replaced the pc board with a new one, just to bring it up to date with the new specs.
Total cost: $15.
Now that's what I consider great customer service! And this puppy is probably good for another 22 years.
73,
Bill
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