|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Astron RS 35A.
|
N0FPE
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 21, 2009 05:54
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A tank
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
hard to stop. I have 3 RS-35M units in service. One has been powered on 24/7/365 for 15 years. Never as much as blink unless the power company dropped the line. yes i have a newer switcher. But it is only for temp use when i am cleaning the dust off the astrons.
|
|
WA7KGX
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 21, 2009 03:30
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Stuck a Screwdriver in it
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Had mine for 25 years or so. Power light barely flickers anymore. Next time I open it up in goes a new light, maybe an LED. Given the thunk when I turn it on maybe I don't need the power light after all.
The rectifier bridge creates a bit of hash on LF even with caps added across the rectifier input.
The crowbar trips if there is too much RF in the shack.
For years the hum has driven me to distraction. Placing it on a phone book didn't help. After reading other reviews I wedged a small screwdriver under the top cover. Blissful quiet.
When I decide what to do about the crowbar I'll hopefully be able to hack the case to get rid of the resonance which makes the hum so loud.
|
|
KG4DGF
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 25, 2009 19:27
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A neccesity to any shack
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
I have the M model. Has been a workhorse of my station for years now. Heck sometimes i forget i have it. My only issue thus far has been a terrible noise on 80 meters, but i can take it since my NB clears it right up, and i am using an indoor antenna about 3 feet away from it. Solid equipment and i honestly don't know how anyone uses any PS but an Astron. The hum is so quiet it isnt noticeable as soon at my IC-706 MKiiG is on. I have used it for about 8 years, many of those years it was turned off and not used, however it has never failed me. Wish my antenna's were so faithful.
|
|
KI4GSV
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jun 10, 2009 05:09
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great Service and Support
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I have been using this PS for 6 years. I use it to power an Icom 2100 radio and an Icom IC-718. I have always had no trouble with this PS. I run a Long wire antenna and AH-4 Autotuner and have always had a S8 noise level on most bands. Due to my inexperience I thought this was normal, however. I was researching for a better antenna/tuner combination and decided to use a AM radio to track down the noise and found it was coming from my PS thru the antenna. A call was placed to Astron's Tech Support. After describing my "discovery" to the tech he insructed me to "solder a .1 uf capacitor to the to yellow wires, there problem solved" the wires that he descibed come of the transformers secondary side going into the inputs of the rectifier bridge. I followed his instructions and tested the radio. 0 S units on all bands. Now I can hear the weak stations that I didn't know I was missing. Great Service and Support.
Bill KI4GSV
|
|
KB1RWI
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Apr 28, 2009 07:20
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
reliable, durable
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
This is a great power supply. I will run it for hours and hours on end and it will not have any problems. Its very heavy but is definitely well built and will last a long time. I have only been running my transceiver at 100 watts PEP so it only uses part of its capacity but I definitely recommend it.
|
|
K4GST
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Jan 9, 2009 07:32
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
My third Astron
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
Two RS35's and a SS-30. Neither RS35 has given me a moment's worry. This one reads 13.6V (no load) which is a little low but I'm not bored enough to go in and adjust it. It gives a good "thunk!" when powered on, otherwise I don't notice any noise. Which is unlike my SS-30 whose fan sounds like a turbine engine.
|
|
WM9V
|
Rating: 4/5
|
Jan 2, 2009 06:33
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
astron supplies errata
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
ive fixed 100s of the astrons supplies while a tech for the shack.. many came across the bench
i keep reading about the hum problem ...
get over it ..its a huge ac transformer.. of course its going to hum at 60 hz
ive heard a lot of comments on the switchers ..
one that bothers me is the rfi that this product does not emit
they are working on those products though and they will eventually replace linear power supplies because of their light weight and
green power consumption ...
make sure the product has the rubber feet on it
the 35a someone gave me was dead and i ran over to the junk pile and replaced the open three wire ac cord
the terminals in the back were loose...i removed them entirely
this one someone had put the one piece banana jacks with the fixed spacing on the front ...good idea
if i can locate more of those locally i will parallel them on the front for mutiple radios
i removed the cigarette lighter plug in the front and rewired dc with the appropriate gauge wire
warning ... the electrolyte that is pc mounted on the control board immediately was replaced..its brown a 2200 ufd ???wv
it exhibited that smell when heated
fire it off the roof ... i put in a pull out electrolyte with a higher voltage
the screws in the large filter caps were all replaced because they had stripped out ...
the contacts on the pcb and the terminals were all reflowed or brightened to reduce vr drop...
yours will develop blackening at the circuit board around the screw holes....regardless of the model
i like the vs metered product with the overcurrent adjustment ...easily done considering the lcd voltmeters avaialable today
check the ripple with a scope or load drop with a dvm while under load make sure the voltage isnt too high or low ...13.6 vdc preferably
many others are replacing these with pyramids
which have the twin meters on them ...nice
these could all be backed up with an isolator and a gell cell for continous dc or and a solar cell
the main cap in the smaller units does go bad from time to time as does the 723 ic
people also blow up the pass transistors... easy to replace and find
other than that.. nothing wrong with this old workhorse design
i would put movs and ferrites all over this thing if it was my design as well as rf bypass caps
if you want plug and play go buy a computer and leave me out of the discussion
of course most of you could break a pet rock....
|
|
KE5LDO
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 11, 2008 16:54
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
10 years and 2 Hurricanes later
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
Mine has been excellent. Two moves, survived Rita and Ike, and still going strong, as well as being in storage several weeks in that time, just keeps purring along.
|
|
KC7CRR
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 11, 2008 16:39
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Totally Reliable
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
I think I bought my Astron RS-35A back in 1996. Unlike other users, I have always turned mine off when not in use. Consequently, mine should be almost like new after all these years! Sometimes it does thunk when turned on, but a heavy stapler and an unused 2 meter rig sitting on top of it have cured the problem.
It has powered numerous 2 meter rigs, HF rigs, and other ancillary amateur equipment over the years with never a complaint. I wish all electronic gear were this reliable.
Don't hesitate to add the RS-35A to your station.
73, KC7CRR
|
|
W2BLC
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Nov 11, 2008 13:25
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Like a Timex
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
|
Mine has been running since the early 80s with only a few days off when on vacation. QUALITY!!!
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
