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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
KK8ZZ Rating: 2010-12-20
Sturdy PS Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought two of these the last day at Dayton last year for $129 each from HRO.. small, quiet, sturdy, cool... never failed me for portable or home operations... meter is nice, variable freq might be necessary for some, but never a problem here... added a line to a PowerPole connection and went out from there.. powers the IC-7200, IC-910H and IC-208H all at the same time and never breaks a sweat. Highly recommended, especially over the RF noise and cheap construction of MFJ units. (When will they EVER learn to put all the darned screws in and tighten them down? I'd expect this from Asian dimwitts, but not from our dear brothers and sisters in TN...
AC2AJ Rating: 2010-12-20
Its a Great Power Supply Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Okay I cant spend alot of writing on this because its a power supply but I can say that it works great never even gets warm and is a great addition to my shack.I would buy another.
AC5XP Rating: 2010-12-04
Sturdy and compact Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Alinco DM-330MV

I hesitated a long time before I finally bought this PSU. The reason is that I feel $169 is quite a lot of money for a power supply. But I had a recent windfall which made me decide to buy the unit.
The reason I needed it is primarily because I use commercial HF radios putting out 150 watts, and a "normal" 20A ham PSU is not enough for such a radio. The 32 amps that the DM-330MV delivers would be perfect for a 150 watt radio (my 150 watt SEA 235 marine radio draws 28A @ 13.8V in the peaks)
There are many (even cheaper) switching power supplies on the market that can deliver 30A, but on paper, the Alinco seems to be the better one. It is compact; apparently reliable (when reading Internet reviews), has an adjustable voltage and was tested by the ARRL as extremely quiet in terms of RF hash. And the noise offset feature is a nice touch as well.
One thing that struck me when it arrived is that it is actually bigger than the impression one gets from looking at the ad pictures. Actually not a bad thing; a very small power supply delivering this kind of current makes one wonder if the heat sink is big enough. So I was actually positively surprised by this.

The unit is extremely well built. When I look through the ventilation holes in the bottom, I can see a well-built FR4 PCB that looks clean, well laid-out and constructed with care. It is not at all the mess that you see when you look into the products made by a particular 3-letter competitor, if you get my drift.
The case is an anodized extruded aluminum heatsink, which was carefully deburred before the anodizing process to remove the sharp edges. Very clean. The front bezel and back are also made of pretty thick aluminum paneling; the bottom consists of an electroplated steel panel. The V/A meter is large and easily read and has a backlight. There is a small blower which appears to be always on at a relatively low speed such that it does not make a noticeable sound. I do not know if it will speed up when the heatsink gets hot since I was unable to get the heatsink hot, see later. The manual also gives no clarity on this aspect (see later about this manual)
There is a 13.8V preset which can be selected from the back, when activated the voltage adjust on the front has no effect. When this preset is off, an indentation in the voltage potentiometer on the front is at the same 13.8V setting (it actually was 13.5V on my unit). The voltage adjustment can be set all the way down to 0V.

I hooked up the PSU to my transceiver which is possible in several different ways. On the back, there are two large screw terminals that one should use for the heavy loads like a HF rig (which is what I did). On the front, there are two pairs of spring loaded quick connect/disconnect terminals that allow for loads up to 5A each. There also is a cigarette lighter style socket allowing for up to 10A loads, convenient for hooking up a mobile rig equipped with such a plug. The weird thing is that the socket is a "true" cigarette lighter plug (as opposed to a simplified 12V socket you see nowadays in cars as a second DC outlet); with ceramic insulator and the correct contact springs. If you would plug a cigarette lighter in this socket, it would make proper contact. Alinco warns in the manual not to do this though, so it is a good thing I do not smoke, hi.

Upon testing with my 150W HF rig, the power supply delivered the required 28A that my radio draws effortless. Voltage remains rock-stable, regardless of the load (as it should be of course).
I had an hour-long ragchew QSO which only made the PSU heat-sink lukewarm; much cooler than the radio itself. There is a sticker on the top of the PSU warning that the heatsink can get so hot (before the safety shutoff kicks in) one can get burned, but I assume this only would happen under extreme load conditions.
I tuned my radio across the full shortwave band but just as in the QST test report, I was unable to find even a single hash artifact, not even on the low bands. This power supply appears to be as quiet as a linear PSU, at least for my radio setup (and my multiband vertical is pretty close to the shack)

To summarize; this power supply is a quality product that does exactly what I need, so I’m very happy with my purchase.


Are there downsides to this power supply? Of course; we wouldn’t be hams if there would be nothing to nag about, hi.

First of all, it is priced a bit on the high side. One gets what one pays for of course; it is after all a quality product. The low exchange rate of our greenback compared to foreign currencies also might have something to do with the high cost, unfortunately.

Another thing I did not like was the twin potentiometer. It is a bit flimsy and sticks out quite a lot from the front panel, it looks like when one is not careful it can easily be damaged if you accidentally bump into it to hard.

The manual also leaves room for improvement. It isn’t much (which is to be expected of course because the equipment fulfills a relatively simple function) but I at least would have liked to see a schematic diagram in it.

My last issue has to do with the current adjustment; there isn’t any. Which is actually too bad; the lack of such an adjuster is the only thing that stops one from using this PSU as a true lab instrument. When experimenting; one needs the ability to limit the current on a power supply. It would have been simple for Alinco to add such an adjustment.

The lack of current limiting also prohibits this PSU from being used as a small battery charger. The manual actually warns against charging batteries with this PSU for obvious reasons; you don’t want to charge a battery from a constant voltage source, such charging requires a constant current source which – you guessed it – requires a current adjust which the Alinco does not have.

But I consider these issues minor. My over-al conclusion on this power supply is: A solid 5 in the rating.

73s, Loek "Luke" d’Hont AC5XP
KK5JY Rating: 2010-11-15
Nice supply. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I really enjoy this power supply. It is compact, and the output voltage is very stiff under loads at least into the 25A range.

I don't care for the binding posts on the back. If I'm going to ask a supply to deliver 30A, I want the posts to be tight. The little plastic-coated brass nuts they supply just can't take the torque. If you can, get some real hardware to mount on the posts, and toss the black and red knobs that come on them.

For that matter, some 45A PowerPoles would be great.

The meter is very clean looking and responsive, but the LED backlight is too dim. If you use with adequate room lighting, it is perfect. But in dim lighting, it's a little hard to read.

The cigarette lighter socket is a nice touch.

You can adjust the frequency of the switching circuit to offset noise. Mine is extremely RF quiet, and I have never needed this function, even with indoor antennas. The physical noise is also quite low, although you can hear the switching circuit whine very quietly from the case when it is under significant load (e.g., when your radio is transmitting).

I set mine to 13.8 V via the preset function, and left it there. So I don't use the voltage adjustment on the front panel.

This, like many switchers, is NOT intended for use for charging any battery and the manual (brief as it is) plainly says so. I believe the DC output posts are basically a short-circuit when the power supply is off. So turning the supply off while connected directly to a battery would probably cause something to fail spectacularly. I'm not going to try. I have an Astron linear supply that charges lead-acid batteries quite nicely.

In short, it's a keeper.
KD7CAO Rating: 2010-11-01
Great Unit - Solid Design Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just purchased one of these units for my HF station, so much lighter than the linear power supply that I was carrying and capable of more power to boot. I especially like the feature of adjusting voltage. No you don't have to open a case, just adjust the knob on the front or set screw on the back. I run mine in a PRESET mode, but that is because I don't really need the variable feature all the time.

We did purchase several for my agency's mobile command post. We had a need to replace a number of Wal-Warts... They were operating on 9V DC and a few more on 12V dc. So they will work great to get rid of the 30 or so Wal-Warts that all produce less than .5 Amps. :)

Simple design, solid construction, and great heat syncing. Thanks Alinco! Looks real nice with my IC-718 too!
AD7VH Rating: 2010-10-20
Great Power Supply Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this power supply for going on 4-years now. I have used it with my TS-2000, FT-857, IC-718, and many devices that require 13.8v. I use it on a regular basis to power my TS-2000, W2IHY boxes, and my Ameritron amplifier buffer. I have never had my radio stutter once while using this supply. It is far more stable and has outlasted an Astron and a Pyramid. I am quite impressed with it. If this one died tomorrow, I would buy another one!

I do a lot of tuning around the AM band, which, of course, the power supply puts out a birdie on one of my favorite stations. However, just a little twist of the noise offset and it disappears! For the people that complain about this nice little power supply putting out spikes here and there, so what, that is what the noise offset is for!
I have never heard any noise on 160m and up; none, nadda, zip! It just seems to start spiking here and there below 1.5MHz, but is never a problem with the noise offset.

John, NV6R, eastern Nevada
K6PHL Rating: 2010-08-09
10+ Yr Still Going Strong Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Purchased in the spring of 2000- in constant use since- both main (rear) terminals and front auxiliary terminals I've never experienced any noise (I do have it attached to my station ground), or glitch problems. Utopian- I wish everything I owned worked this well and proved to be this reliable!
AE5TE Rating: 2010-04-11
Great compact unit Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased this little switcher to be a part of station upgrades here to improve compactness and portability, and as compared to my other supply, the Astron RS50M, it is compact and portable indeed.

The gripes I'll list first and there are but two: First, the rear DC Out terminals are too small. I would prefer a couple 1/4" studs with standard wing or hex nuts on which I could stack 3 or 4 sets of heavy duty wire end lugs. The little banana jack combo terminals barely have enough grip length to accommodate two sets of lugs and then only if they are thinner than what seems to be typical on a 12 Ga. power cable. Second, the coaxial V-Adjust/Hash Shift knobs stick out too much in the front. The unit would fare better knocking around in a box of gear without them sticking out so far.

Other reviewers complained their supplies had only a two prong power cord. Mine, purchased Dec. 2009, has a three prong cord. Good on Alinco finally seeing the light, though I wouldn't have been so concerned about it myself. RF hash from the supply is not evident at my location. Output seems to stay up and remains clean at load, it is a good match for the modern solid state 100W HF rig and perhaps a few accessories. More than that would probably be asking too much.

Bottom line, it is very reasonably priced and meets expectations with regard to usefulness and functionality. I like it and I would buy it again.
KE5ZGI Rating: 2010-04-03
Great Buy Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Very nice power supply. Have used this mobile and as a Base power source for my IC 756 Pro 2. No hash.No problems. I will be buying another for Mobile use. Our club has one as well ( I have used) as well another HAM friend loves his. Nothing but positive comments there.
JA7UDE Rating: 2009-10-08
Flawless Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have been using two DM-330MVs for four years. One of them was hit by lightening and broken while it was under warranty. I sent it to Alinco for repair. They sent it back to me in a week. Great service. Other than that, my DV-330MVs have been working flawlessly. A compact yet powerful power supply.