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Reviews For: Astron SS-18

Category: Power Supplies

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Review Summary For : Astron SS-18
Reviews: 12MSRP: 94.95
Description:
Desktop switching power supply, 15A continuous, 18A intermittent
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.astroncorp.com/sps.shtml
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
23.5124.3
N4KZ Rating: 2004-08-31
Quiet workhorse Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this supply primarily to power some QRP equipment. It works perfectly. It's small, very light -- just right for travel -- and no RF hash on any HF bands that I can find. I've learned the hard way that while switching supplies are attractive because of their size and weight, some of them are terrible noise producers. Believe me, you will forget all about size and weight if the band is full of noise every few kHz! But this one seems very quiet.
K7VO Rating: 2004-07-19
Very small, very light, no hash, runs cool. Very nice! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I went down to the closest thing we have to a local ham shop (2.5 hours away) and bought an Astron SS-18 when my old power supply was toasted by lightning. I mainly run QRP and even my 50W 6m/HF amp doesn't draw more than 8 amps so I decided to get the smallest thing I could find that would reliably do the job. I could have gone with the Astron SS-12, but it was the same size as the SS-18 and the price difference was tiny.

Speaking of tiny, this power supply is only 1-3/8 x 6 x 9 inches in size and weighs in at just 3.4 lbs. Granted, I haven't run it even close to rated power, but it's running my entire shack and it stays cool and just does what it should. I run most everything from 40m to 70cm all mode and I haven't heard any RF hash on any band. There is no fan noise for a good reason: there is no fan! I guess at this power level Astron felt they didn't need one.

Anyway, over the first few months this has been a reliable supply for me and it's small size makes it ideal for domestic travel. Sadly, it can't be switched from 110V to 220V for international travel. For use in the shack it's perfect for me.