| Products > Test Equipment |
| Seeking Bench Power Supply Recommendations |
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| mansaxel:
Second the recommendation on hp/Harrison supplies. They're eminently serviceable, cheap on your side of the pond, and so high quality that anything remotely as good, new, would cost 4 digits dollars. I have a 6206 and a 6237, and use them a lot. (I also have a 3A 2x32V Uni-T and a big, 10A 2x35V TTi, and there's a 3-voltage Oltronix lurking in the repair queue. I'd like to get hold of a 6209b for the high voltage; that would be used for valve work and as transfer standard for checking multimeters.) Further, supplies are one of those things you really early need more than one of, so by buying used you can get further along your needs. Just like multimeters (this only partially explains why I have something like 10 of them, though). In your case, I'd initially look at one variable for lab work, and one fixed at 13,8V for running the radio gear. Then progress with another for the lab. If you do opamp work, a lot of time and hassle can be saved by getting a dual-voltage one. |
| nctnico:
The biggest downside of the older PSUs is their inaccurate metering. A PSU like the GW Instek GPP-4323 or Keysight E3631x series have accurate (4.5 digit) metering which doesn't require external metering (=extra DMMs) to measure output voltage, power and current. At some point I wanted to get extra DMMs to measure voltage and current on a bench PSU when it dawned to me that the PSU itself should have adequate metering. |
| abeyer:
--- Quote from: nctnico on July 25, 2022, 08:51:35 pm ---The biggest downside of the older PSUs is their inaccurate metering. A PSU like the GW Instek GPP-4323 or Keysight E3631x series have accurate (4.5 digit) metering which doesn't require external metering (=extra DMMs) to measure output voltage, power and current. At some point I wanted to get extra DMMs to measure voltage and current on a bench PSU when it dawned to me that the PSU itself should have adequate metering. --- End quote --- Seems like you could get 5 good older HP supplies and 5 decent 4.5 digit DMMs (that you'll also have for other uses) and still come out ahead of the retail price of buying that Keysight new. ??? |
| nctnico:
--- Quote from: abeyer on August 02, 2022, 09:51:07 pm --- --- Quote from: nctnico on July 25, 2022, 08:51:35 pm ---The biggest downside of the older PSUs is their inaccurate metering. A PSU like the GW Instek GPP-4323 or Keysight E3631x series have accurate (4.5 digit) metering which doesn't require external metering (=extra DMMs) to measure output voltage, power and current. At some point I wanted to get extra DMMs to measure voltage and current on a bench PSU when it dawned to me that the PSU itself should have adequate metering. --- End quote --- Seems like you could get 5 good older HP supplies and 5 decent 4.5 digit DMMs (that you'll also have for other uses) and still come out ahead of the retail price of buying that Keysight new. ??? --- End quote --- You'd need 10 DMMs to measure both current and voltage and still have no way to show power usage. Now look at the volume 10DMMs and 5 PSUs would take. Besides that you have the issue with the burden voltage across the DMMs that measure the current so you'd need sense wires as well. It simply is better to start with a PSU that has accurate metering built in. |
| abeyer:
--- Quote from: nctnico on August 02, 2022, 09:54:55 pm --- --- Quote from: abeyer on August 02, 2022, 09:51:07 pm --- --- Quote from: nctnico on July 25, 2022, 08:51:35 pm ---The biggest downside of the older PSUs is their inaccurate metering. A PSU like the GW Instek GPP-4323 or Keysight E3631x series have accurate (4.5 digit) metering which doesn't require external metering (=extra DMMs) to measure output voltage, power and current. At some point I wanted to get extra DMMs to measure voltage and current on a bench PSU when it dawned to me that the PSU itself should have adequate metering. --- End quote --- Seems like you could get 5 good older HP supplies and 5 decent 4.5 digit DMMs (that you'll also have for other uses) and still come out ahead of the retail price of buying that Keysight new. ??? --- End quote --- You'd need 10 DMMs to measure both current and voltage and still have no way to show power usage. Now look at the volume 10DMMs and 5 PSUs would take. Besides that you have the issue with the burden voltage across the DMMs that measure the current so you'd need sense wires as well. It simply is better to start with a PSU that has accurate metering built in. --- End quote --- Yeah of course, I was being facetious, I don't expect anyone to actually do that -- but pointing out the benefits of a multi-thousand dollar option is in a thread about what are good options on a $150 budget seems kind of pointless. Yeah, you're right, if you exceed your budget by an order of magnitude, you can get better gear. |
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