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Reviews For: Astron RS-50M

Category: Power Supplies

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Review Summary For : Astron RS-50M
Reviews: 31MSRP: 240.00
Description:
Power Supply. 13.8v nominal with volt/amp meters.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00314.6
W3DBB Rating: 2013-02-07
impressive Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Purchased RS-50M new in March 2001. Used daily since. This particular example does not have illuminated meters. Powers a Yaesu FT-920 100 Watt SSB XCVR & an Alinco DR-605TQ VHF-UHF mobile rig simultaneously. The RS-50M is substantially oversized for my application.

The power transformer is quiet. Never a problem with voltage regulation in 12 years and counting. Absolutely no RFI generated by this power supply.

The RS-50M survived my stupidity. The power supply wasn't much more than a year old when I touched a grounded 1" braid to the outside of one of the transistors mounted on the side heat sinks, creating a 12V high current mini-arc welder and destroying that transistor and one of the stud rectifiers in the process.

Some quick replacements from Mouser and the RS-50M was back in business. Has run flawlessly since, probably for a good 10-11 years.

Have never seen linear regulated power supplies for amateur use better than Astron's. I have no connection with Astron or anyone selling them.



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Earlier 5-star review posted by W3DBB on 2009-12-05

And that's exactly what inadvertently happened. I accidentally touched a ground-rod connected piece of 3/4" braid to the outside case of one of the power transistors on my RS-50M, creating a miniature arc-welder in the process and blowing out one of the stud rectifiers. The affected transistor was electrically unharmed but since I partially melted it's TO-5 case I replaced it for cosmetic and reliability reasons. A new stud rectifier and it was back to life and has performed flawlessly for years now. I also purchased a RS-35M I've been kinder to but that one has the dreaded lamination noise emanating from the power transformer. The RS-50M's power transformer is dead quiet and I would buy another one if needed based on my experience. Because of the noise I have with my RS-35M I would not buy another of that particular model.
N4VNV Rating: 2013-02-07
SUPER PRODUCT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My Astron RS-50 has been on for over seven years. I very seldom cut it off. NEVER HAD A PROBLEM WITH IT. I have a Kenwood TS-2000, a SGC-231 remote tuner (outdoors) and a West Mountain Radio Digital Noise Reduction Module hooked to it at all times.
W4KVW Rating: 2013-02-07
GREAT Product! }:>) Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had one for many years & it never gave me any problems.Sold it to buy my current power supply which is the ASTRON RS-70M which handles everything I have thrown at it as well.BUILT TOUGH! {:>)
KN3E Rating: 2013-02-06
The Astron failed after three years Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I needed a heavy duty amp to power an Elecraft K3 two meter transverter (output max 10 watts) and a two meter 250 watt (max) amplifier. Since I am a rag chewer I opted to over engineer my power needs by installing a Astron 50M amp supply. What I failed to do was investigate the quality of Astron power supplies. When the power supply failed it put out 22 volts damaging both the amp and the K3. I did some internet research and found that these supplies are generally considered to be of poor quality. In fact if you Google the product you will find a lot of mods available to help correct Aston’s design problems. In addition to the supply failing the poorly designed crow bar circuit failed to fire leaving my equipment totally unprotected. In the future I will do a more thorough investigation before I purchase electronic ham gear.
KH6TA Rating: 2011-11-06
I Love It, especially the lighted meters. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

Aloha!

I've had Astron metered supplies for many years in 2-way radio service, cellular service and ham radio, and have never been disapointed with a one.

Have 2 new ones now, an RS-50M and a VS-70M with lighted meters, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Now that I'm retiring soon, these 2 Astron supplies may well outlast me. I also have an "old" RS-35M that is maybe 8 years old and still works as new, even after many field days and portable ops.

Do yourself a favor, if you need a new supply, always buy one size more than you think you need, and always make it an Astron!

Tommy KH6TA
Na'alehu, Hawaii
KJ4I Rating: 2011-09-04
Built like a tank. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Where to start? First of all this thing is heavy and feels solid as a rock. I have only had it for about a month but so far so good. It has no problem supplying my HF rig and several accessories. I wanted the extra amperage as I don't like running power supplies on the edge of their limits. It gets a little warm after it's been on a while but that is expected. I like the lighted meters that Astron has started putting in them. One very minor drawback is that there is no option to turn the meter lights on and off independent from the power supply and Astron says that the bulbs cant be replaced. There is a mod to replace the bulbs or convert them to LED's floating around on the internet that looks pretty simple so it shouldn't be too difficult to fix when the bulbs eventually blow.

FYI: It is normal for the meter lights to dim or flicker when drawing current from the power supply as the lights are wired before the voltage regulation. It is also normal for the Volt meter to take a little while to read the actual voltage of the power supply as it needs some time to warm up before it is most accurate. Fred at Astron verified this when I called him.


In all, this is an excellent power supply. I got mine on sale at Gigaparts with free shipping for just a little over $200. Well worth it for a quality product.

KE5KDT Rating: 2010-09-15
Very Good Power Supply Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this unit since new in 2006. I leave it on all the time. Recently it fell offline while using my TS-480HX (40 amps). I could cycle the power and it would come back but quickly fall off again. I called Astron service and FRED was great. I didn't want to mail it because it weighs a lot. Fred slowly talked me through troubleshooting the unit. I finally found that a screw (one of two) that secures the main power leads inside on the small PC board was slightly loose but just enough that it would lightly arc and loose contact and only leave one half the power supply functioning. A quick cleaning and resecuring of the leads/screw put it back in action. I'd give it a 5 if that had not happened and feel it must have been a fluke; never the less, it was or did come loose and cause me to have a power failure during a qso. Kudos to Astron service and I do feel it is a robust supply and would buy one again in a flash.
K8KAS Rating: 2009-12-05
Good Stuff Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I was in charge of purchasing for an electronics group and bought 5 or 6 of the RS 50's for the lab. The boys in the lab gave me hell for not getting HP or some other TOP brand. 13 years later all of the RS 50's were still going strong and never a trouble, almost everyone of the HP and other big buck supplies had been repaired or replaced. The switching type 30 and 50 amp were repaired monthly, can't say enuff about the Astron's. Top's for the money.
VE7IG Rating: 2009-08-19
Great continuous service. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I replaced a RS35S with one of these about a year and a half ago. The RS35S had failed after about 8 years of continuous repeater duty, perhaps due to a power surge. This unit just soldiers on! A great power supply like the rest of the Astrons I have used.
former_N0JL Rating: 2009-08-11
No problems. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I see reviews discounting this supply when they opened it and did some soldering and tightening of bolts. I do that as a matter of course with new equipment. The only thing is recent years that did not need something is my HF transceiver. Once in service, I have had no problems for years and years.