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Reviews For: Alinco DM-330MVT

Category: Power Supplies

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Review Summary For : Alinco DM-330MVT
Reviews: 161MSRP: 219.95 Street $169.95
Description:
Specifications: Input voltage: AC120VAC(MVT) / 220VAC(MVZ) Output voltage : 5 to 15VDC variable Output voltage variation: less than 2% Protection: short-circuit, Automatic current limiting over 32A, over-temperature Output current: 32A(max), 30A(continuous) Ripple: less than 15mVp-p at rated load Fuse: 8A Meter: single volt/current meter, back-lit Size: 175(w) x 67(h) x 165(d) mm Weight: approx. 2 Kg
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.alinco.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
151614.4
OE2 Rating: 2006-06-08
One of the best power supplies Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I use the european version (DM-330MVE).
I use before a Diamond GSZ-4000 , but I was not happy with it. To much plastic-cover and to big for me and to much noise from the fan. My Alinco DM-330MVE works great on my IC-7400. No noise from the little fan. It is real a ,big' power supplies. BUY ONE !!!
DM1US Rating: 2006-04-06
Good for 40 m and above Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this unit, because it has this advertized feature that you can dial the switching noise away from the frequency you are working on. What I didn't know was that the switching noise repeats itself every 20 or 30 kHz. So when you are dialing on your transceiver you move through the switching noise over and over again. For every frequency you choose on your transceiver you have to finetune the switching knob on the Alinco power supply. This is a real nuisance. Sometimes a fairly strong station is completely covered up by the switching noise. You are also never sure, wether you are dealing with atmospheric disturbances or switching noise. All this holds true for the 80m band and below. 40 meters and above are free of any switching noise.

I bought the European version DM-330 MVE, which is physically bigger than the US-version. The fan comes on way too early, even when drawing just 2 amps and the lid still being cool. The fan is quiet, though.

The build quality is good. I can recommend the unit for someone who isn't interested in 80 or 160 meters or in the medium or long wave AM broadcast bands.

I traded mine for a Diamond GSV-3000.

73,
DM1US, N4SNW
W9WHE-II Rating: 2006-01-09
Mine does not meet specs Time Owned: more than 12 months.
A very nice looking supply, but mine does not meet specs. At 30 amps, it is supposed to vary the voltage by 2%. With mine, at about 24 amps, it looses about .5-6 volts, or about 3.6%.

If you get past the ANNOYING voltage drop, its small, light, well constructed, stays cool and is pretty to look at. Pity mine can't even hold a 24 amp load. Wonder id this is just mine, or typical?
KC9ECI Rating: 2005-10-08
Not bad Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I got mine used from HRO almost 2 years ago for $80 and it's been on pretty much non-stop since then. I brought home rig to try out the other day and I turned it off and it wouldn't power up again. Fuse was OK, nothing obviously wrong. I've looked around a bit and while there are cheaper supplies to be had, and perhaps better namebrands, I'm going to order a new one from HRO.
PA3GVQ Rating: 2005-07-30
Great unit Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I was amazed when we used this small power supply from a local HAM at the Jamboree On The Air 2004 to power our 2 meter FM station with a 110+ Watt 13,8 V amp. (Kenwood TR 751 at 5 Watt + lineair) at one powersupply.

It didn't get warm at all (the lineair and rig did HI) during the long QSO's the scouts made. We didn't receive any negative reports about buzz we had with using a normal transformer PSU in this combo. So I knew this is the power supply I want to buy soon.

In the last 6 months I took it to a couple of scouting activities (outdoor and indoor) to power my 2 meter and HF-station and it never failed me to run 20+ amps for long times, even if the mains power went slowly up and down between 190 and 230 Volts. (on the fix 13,8 Volts setting)

At one camp it powered our TS-850 and TM-G707 running both at full power in SSB and FM. Only then the unit was getting a bit warm when we made long QSO's on both transmitters. But no major powerdips at 13,8V.

About noise, yes there is a little noise on the low bands, but for my use it never gave problems to make contacts on 160 and 80 meters in SSB with a antenna in a small tower.

I really love this unit and I am thinking to buy a second one for our next JOTA.
KE6PID Rating: 2005-07-29
Works okay me for me Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been looking through the reviews, some people seem to have no problem with this supply while others seem to have nothing but trouble. Perhaps QC issues or multiple component vendors or different production runs could account for this.

In my case it's a great supply. I run a TenTec Orion on this supply and it's solid as a rock on all bands from 80 through 10. There are a "few" birdies on the 40 M band, but they can be moved with the offset control. I have not noticed any broadband hash as other users have reported when the supply is providing less than 5 amps. However when the supply is providing more current, in my case, the supply begins to get electrically noisy. When running high loads for an extended time (RTTY, SSTV) the cooling fan starts and the supply gets hot. If you have several ops (field day) at one site this might not be a good choice. I would not label this as "heavy duty" equipment.
OZ1LLY Rating: 2005-05-21
Fine Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
DM-330MVE is compact, perfect in home/portable
no problems great product.
Use:
FT-890
FT-847
Icom 756 pro 3
2M Tono 250w
Also use MFJ-4245,Zetagi 1250s,Emtron EPS-20st.
KC2NUQ Rating: 2005-05-16
Does The Job Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this to power a Yaesu FT-7800r. That it does without breaking a sweat. The unit is quiet and runs cool. The small footprint fits right in with the space that I had available.

I also wanted the cigarette lighter plug on the front for my HTs.

The only complaint is that one of the rubber feet was short. This caused the unit to rock whenever I turned it on or off. I shimmed the bottom with a plastic washer and now it is steady. A minor annoyance.
KC9AYN Rating: 2005-04-18
PERFECT Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I HAVE OWNED THIS LITTLE GEM FOR ALMOST A YEAR. THE UNIT DOES EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS BUILT FOR. QUIET, EFFICIENT, SMALL FOOTPRINT, AND RELIABLE.
LEAVING IT RUNNING FOR ALMOST THREE DAYS STRAIGHT, IT WAS BARELY WARM. ITS LIGHT WEIGHT AND SIZE MAKE IT IDEAL TO TAKE ALONG FOR FIELD DAY EVENTS.
WE HAD A MAJOR HOUSEFIRE LAST DECEMBER, AND THIS UNIT SURVIVED WITH NO DAMAGE TO THE UNIT.


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Earlier 5-star review posted by KC9AYN on 2003-06-17

I PURCHASED THIS AFTER TALKING TO PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HAD ONE. IT IS QUIET, RELIABLE, AND HAVE FOUND NO BIRDIES ANYWHERE SO FAR.
WITH MANY OPTIONS FOR HOOKING UP DIFFERENT RADIOS AND ACCESSORIES, I CAN NOT COMPLAIN.
WILL REVIEW ONCE MORE TIME AFTER WE USE THIS FOR FIELD DAY IN TWO WEEKS.
N5EAT Rating: 2004-11-29
So Far - Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had the unit for at least 4 years, maybe longer. It's been a wonderful piece of equipment.
I've had an Astron 20 amp supply which went bad after 2 years (will still do about 10 amps). I have a Pyramid 25 amp supply which has somewhat bad "assembly" problems, but is unkillable. However - my Alinco is just a great sized, full featured unit with the 2 big posts in the rear, 2 speaker type wire attachments in the front, plus a cigarette plug receptacle. I use them all and am very pleased.