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| Reviews Summary for Gamma Research HPS-1A |
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Reviews: 32
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Average rating: 5.0/5
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MSRP: $129.95
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Description: The HPS-1a is capable of supplying full power to any 12 volt, 100 watt class transceiver in normal Voice SSB or Morse CW modes. RTTY, AM, and FM modes should be limited to about 35 watts.
Input Voltage = 100-240 VAC, 50-60 Hz, 2 Amps maximum.
Output Voltage = 13.5 VDC
Output Current = 5 Amps Continuous., 22 Amps @ .25 duty/sec.
Dimensions: 3.37" x 1.55" x 5.25"
Weight: 1.25 lbs.
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Product is in production.
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More info: http://www.gammaresearch.net/hps-1a.html
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W1UJR
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 22, 2012 12:23
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Very Well Done!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Perfect portable or station supply for low power AM, or up to 100 watt CW and SSB. Build quality is exceptional, unit is very quiet, sits next to my rig on the desk. At just over 1 lb of weight, very portable for travel or off site use. Fred is excellent to deal with, ships promptly, even comes with the power connector. I made a short stub lead off the connector, 6 " or so, terminating into Powerpoles. AAA+ unit, great value, you will not regret adding this to your station.
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K4HPP
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Rating: 4/5
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Dec 24, 2010 18:29
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Good, but . . .
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I picked up this supply at a hamfest a few years back. The intent was to use it as a portable supply for my Florida QTH. While it works almost as advertised, it will not provide enough output voltage to run an IC-7000 at more than 50 watts CW for more than several seconds. The IC-7000 draws 5 amps in transmit mode with no key down. This is the continuous rating for the supply. Apparently, there is not enough time to recharge the capacitors between CW characters. The voltage soon drops below 12 VDC and rig output drops to about 50 watts output. reducing output power to 45 or 50 watts allows it it just "stay ahead". Using QSK keying works better, because of the reduced current draw while the rig is in receive mode between characters. The problem is that the IC-7000 uses what may be the loudest keying relay in the industry, making it a lousy QSK rig.
Additionally, the HPS-1A cooling fan has a relatively high noise level but moving it away from the operating desk (to the floor?) reduces noise to a tolerable level.
I love this supply for it's size. Using it with a K3 or other rig with lower transmit mode standby current probably works just fine as the many reviews indicate. I finally sold the HPS-1A supply and replaced it with a PowerWerx SS-30DV which does the job nicely (at a size sacrifice of course).
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VE3JSJ
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 30, 2010 10:57
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Excellent product
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I am very satisfied with this product Small, efficient, and keeps its cool !
It will in fact power the FT-857 on receive (unsquelched, dial illuminated) for 35 seconds from the internal capacitors after the power is turned off. And the FT-817 will keep going for 55 seconds. So, I also describe this PS as an "Uninterruptable Power Supply"!!
Gordon (VE3JSJ)
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AL7GQ
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 15, 2010 11:27
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Great for World Travel
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The HPS-1A is the most compact and light AC Power Supply I have ever used. It is well regulated and quiet, considering fan noise and switching noise - there is none! In the past few years I have used it on numerous DX trips. One trip to an island off the coast of Ireland I used it for a month without turning it off with my FT-100D & FT-817. The HPS-1A has made at least a dozen trips to Alaska and worked perfectly on 120VAC power sources, many of poor condition with varying voltage regulation. This power supply has never failed in extreme environments from room temps of 40 degree F to 100+ degree F in high humidity (90%). I would higly recommend the HPS-1A for world travel and extreme environments. This is one small power supply that I have learned to depend on and never plan for a backup.
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W4MY
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 31, 2010 05:58
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Great Product, Great Service
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Ordered product on-line over the weekend. Website easy to use. Credit card was charged immediately via Pay-pal. Received an e-mail from Fred on Monday informing me of a 2-week back order on an important part. He gave me the option to charge back my credit card or wait. I decided to wait. Glad I did! Received the HPS-1A via USPS Priority mail (Fred upgraded this at his expense) on date promised and I used it in time for CQ160 contest. Worked Flawlessly! Fan is silent. Full 100W on CW using my IC-746. When I'm done with my expedition (reason I bought it) I am going to put my Astron VS-35M away.
Its already a 5+ Improvements for the HPS-1B:
1. DC connection via Anderson Powerpole
2. Standard 3-prong AC cord male jack.
3. Move the rocker on-off switch to the front.
$169 is a fair price considering what you get, wish I had bought it when it was $129. You could put it in your back pocket if your pants were loose.
Buy it without hesitation.
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WF4W
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Rating: 5/5
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May 21, 2009 07:53
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This is a fantastic unit!!!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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If you are really looking for the smallest portable solution and don't need to run anything other than CW/SSB, check out the Gamma Research HPS-1a. It's 3.37" x 1.55" x 5.25" and weighs just 1.25 lbs. It uses around 1 Farad of capacitance that is continuously charged and with CW/SSB the duty-cycle is around 30% so it will run a typical 100 transceiver with no problem on those modes. I've used mine for two portable operations and it has performed great. No noise in the radio(K3) at all. I now use it in the shack as well. It's great to be able to pack the radio and power supply all in one attache case for portable operation! This truly one of those "best thing since sliced-bread" devices!
73, Tad, WF4W
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KA6GEM
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Rating: 5/5
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May 13, 2009 12:25
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Small, Light-Weight, CLEAN... it's Super!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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The HPS-1a Gamma Hybrid Communications Power Supply from Gamma Research is a home run, plain and simply: it’s the best power supply of its type available and, honestly, there’s not much out there that even comes close.
I purchased a small Yaesu FT-817 a few years ago and love taking it with me on trips but battery life severely limits the amount of time and/or power. And since I’m usually “on the grid” I’ve been looking for a decent but small and light weight power supply to take along. Everything that I’ve found is based on cheap noisy switching circuits which ruin reception on HF or if they’re RF clean, they’re way too heavy and bulky. But the HPS-1a takes the cake on all three counts: small, light-weight and clean!
As its website explains, the HPS-1a uses super fast “Ultra- Capacitors” which charge between high current pulse requirements so it can supply 5 amps continuously and up to 22 amps on peaks. I tried it with my 100 watt Yaesu FT-897D on SSB and FM and it handled it A-OK. It’s amazing! Now I’m seriously thinking about buying a Yaesu FT-857D!
The manufacturing build-quality inside and out is superb and Fred at Gamma Research, (K3GQ), has answered all my questions promptly via email. It comes with a Molex power connector (Radio Shack Part Number 274-151), the mate to the terminal on the backside. I chose to make a fused power cord terminating into a pair of Anderson PowerPoles. Because of the way the HPS-1a’s capacitors deliver current, Fred recommended a 10 amp fuse. Unlike the PowerPoles, the Molex connector includes a clip that holds the connector firmly in place. One can actually dangle the power supply in the air by with the Molex power cord.
Flipping on the small on/off switch at the back illuminates a small green indicator lamp on the front side. A small whisper-quiet fan keeps the inside cool. Because of the capacitors, the light stays on and the fan continues for a short period after turning it off. For this reason, I find it best to turn off my radio first before shutting down the power supply. Fred says that the HPS-1a can be left on for weeks at a time.
The AC power cord is permanently attached and is about five and a half feet long and terminates into a heavy duty 3 wire grounded plug. Fitted with the right adapter, the HPS-1a can operate overseas where the grid is usually 50 cycles at 220 volts, a very nice feature for the serious traveler.
When in standby, my FT-817 indicates 13.4 volts and it charges the FNB-85 Ni-MH battery nicely so I can leave the bulky Yaesu NC-72B wall charger at home. The added weight of the HPS-1a over the wall wart is only about 3 ounces. And it also does a nice job charging my Yaesu VX-7R handi-talkie!
If you’re looking for an ideal power supply to pack along side your small portable radio, then the HPS-1a is a perfect solution. It’s a solid 5! I strongly recommend it!
73,
Paul, KA6GEM
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N2EHG
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Rating: 5/5
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Dec 21, 2008 05:27
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great supply long term
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had my unit for quite some time, after reading such great reviews and really just interested that such a small unit can do the job that the larger ones typically do , i had to try it.
Got it for when i travel and also sometimes set up a rig in say my livingroom and don't want a large clunky supply
The supply has always been great, it's quite both rf wise and to the ear it works like a charm nice to see a new type supply come out and work so well
goodluck
N2EHG
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W9AC
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 11, 2008 18:44
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Excellent Portable Supply
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased the Gamma supply for use during portable operations with my Elecraft K3 transceiver. Overall build quality is excellent.
I have added a CORCOM IEC filter on the AC line cord in a pigtail configuration. The Gamma supply simply lacks the space necessary to install an IEC receptacle. Also, not knowing whether or not the Gamma is protected against over-voltage, I installed a Littelfuse 1.5KE15A 15-volt transient voltage suppressor reverse-biased across the DC output connector.
The Gamma supply is indeed capable of powering a rig at the 100-watt level, even on CW down to 10 WPM. Below that, the "dah" time on extended characters like "0," become too much for the supply to re-energize its capacitor bank in between transmissions.
I have not tried SSB, but I suspect that the Gamma supply would work equally well. However, since the supply rail voltage changes with duty-cycle, the SSB non-linearities may result when using too much voice processing.
The Gamma supply remains cool to the touch most of the time, but gets slightly warm when running a transmitter at 100W with high duty cycle.
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W4KPA
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 11, 2008 15:31
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It's a keeper
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I got mine to power a Yaesu FT-817 while I was traveling. It handles that, of course, with one hand tied behind its back. The small size and ability to handle 110 or 220 AC were the main selling points. But, it also will power my IC-706 and my Pro-III on SSB. It's a great addition to the shack.
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