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Reviews For: Astron RS-35A

Category: Power Supplies

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Review Summary For : Astron RS-35A
Reviews: 103MSRP: 150.00
Description:
13.8 volt 25 amp continuous 35 amp peak rated DC Power Supply
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.astroncorp.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
121034.8
KG4DGF Rating: 2009-09-25
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: 2009-06-10
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: 2009-04-28
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: 2009-01-09
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: 2009-01-02
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: 2008-11-11
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: 2008-11-11
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: 2008-11-11
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!!!
G7TPL Rating: 2008-11-11
if Carlesberg made supplies.... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I love this supply.
it's been under my bench for 10 years, never gets turned off, never fails, supplies 30 amps easily.
superb.
KD8BZY Rating: 2008-10-13
Oustanding overall Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had extensive electronic experience. These Eham reviews have proven very helpful to me in my purchase decisions of new, to me, Ham equipment for our ( my new XYL and my) shack. I have learned to reference these reviews before each purchase and am so far being directed well. Therefore, as well, I wish to contribute. After reading this flamingly good and extensive set of reviews I decided to buy a RS-35A off Ebay. I bought it primarily to power our new Christmas gift for each other - the FT-950 we will order first of December.

The first thing I did upon receipt of supply was power it up unloaded and check voltage. It read 2 millivolts low of 13.8 volts (practically right on the money). I was using a HP bench DVM which I have confidence in. Next I removed the cover to take a look. I was pleased and respectful to find all was tight and only the transformer bolts needed just a little re- tightening. All other hardware seems to have retained fit from expansion and movement cycling. Of all I noticed I saw only one thing of displeasure to me. The regulating circuit board had not been cleaned of the rosin core flux residue left from soldering. This to me is not a killer but my instructors would never have permitted that, nor would I from myself or others followng my direction.

This old brute really does act like a fire and forget power supply. I am finding myself forgetting to turn it off even when I leave the house for a couple days. She is not noisy and likes living anywhere out of sight where she has reasonable breathing room. I do admire her simple beauty of rock solid design and construction.

To date I am only running my 2 meter rig off her as the FT-950 is yet to come. Consequently the max current depended upon is only about 6 amps now but her voltage deviates not a millivolt under this load.

Thanks to all for helping me decide on a great linear power supply at a just price.

73 and good DX.

KD8BZY
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