By August Hoecker, W8MIA w8mia@antennex.

com OVERVIEW If you are an amateur radio operator, Short Wave Listener (SWL) or involved in any number of other areas of communications, sooner or later you will have a need for a high current, well-regulated 1 to 1! volt "# power supply$ It may be that you have removed your all band, 1%%-watt &Super 'and 'anger& rig from the car for the winter and need a power source to handle that transmit load$ (r perhaps you have your station all setup with emergency battery bac)up and re*uire a much shorter recharge cycle to get your batteries ready for the ne+t blac) out$ Whatever your reason, if you have a use for such a supply ranging in output current from ! to over ,% amps this idea may be the one for you$ If you have priced such a supply, you will find the cost is in the range - %% to -.%% (/S-)$ "iscussed here will be a way to cut that cost by a factor of 1%0 HOW O WE !E" "HERE# "eveloping a power supply providing 1! 1"# or less, at the currents discussed is more of a search and find mission than it is a high tech one$ If you are one of the newer members of our amateur radio family or new to needing a high current power or charging system, this relatively straight forward pro2ect should not stretch your technical s)ills and more importantly it will not stretch your budget either0 3he tas) at hand is to loo) through your &2un) bo+& or visit your local &4adio 5oodies& store or perhaps better yet, a computer store that sells old e*uipment and used parts$ 6ou will be loo)ing for used but wor)ing 7ersonal #omputer power supplies$ 3he ones I found were purchased at a &5ood Will& store, still mounted in three scrapped out &83 #hassis& for -! (/S-) each9see 7hoto-1$ In this case I not only obtained the three wanted supplies, that were all ali)e but I also ac*uired the cases, power switches, 8# power cords, etc$ 3he cost was low enough to allow the purchase of two additional units to )eep as spares or for other service$ 6ou can also use the old 7# cabinet for mounting multiple supplies if you desire$ ABO$" %OM&$"ER &OWER '$&&(IE' It may be worth a few minutes of your time, for those of you who may not have had any e+posure to a typical 7# power supply, to grasp a general understanding of their inner wor)ings without us going into any great detail$ 3he power supplies I am discussing are enclosed in a metal case about ! + : + ; inches (1. + 1! + 1< cm) containing their own cooling fan, circuit brea)er, power switch (case mounted or on short wire leads to the case) and a standard computer . pin I=# power connector$ 3he power ratings of these supplies vary greatly from as low as 1.! watts to over .%% watts$ 3his wattage rating e+presses the total power output of the supply$ 6ou will be searching for supplies no smaller than %% watts with bigger being better with only one caveat discussed a bit later$ 3he 7# power supplies described will normally provide four output voltages which are > 1 1"#, -1 1"#, >! 1"# and -! 1"#$ 3he two minus voltages are usually rated at about 1 amp or less each and are of no practical value for our use here and you may 2ust disregard them$ 3he plus 1 1"# will have an output current rating of anywhere from ; to 1, amps "#$ 3he ! 1"# output rating will range between % and ,% amps depending on the output wattage rating of the supply$ 3he units used for my supply were manufactured in 3aiwan by &?7I &, with a power output rating of !% watts which turns out to be a very conservative rating for this particular supply$ 3he >1 1"# is rated at 1% amps with the > ! 1"# rating at ! amps0 3hese two power outputs loaded to their full rating will add up to an output power availability of ,! watts, very near its posted rating$ 8s shown, we have >! 1"# and >1 1"# and several options and a few restrictions for their use in assembling this new supply to suit our needs$

(ne important point with reference to these computer power supplies is that they are &switching& power supplies not the more conventional &linear& type supplies so many of us may be more familiar with$ 3here are several distinct advantages of switching supplies over the older linear types$ @ainly they are more efficient and run cooler$ Aowever, there are also a few things to be cautious about or have )nowledge of when using these supplies$ 3he first item comes under the %A$"IO) flag$ Switching power supplies ta)e the 8# line voltage (1%% to ,% 18#, sometimes re*uiring a 2umper to be removed for the higher line voltages) rectify it and charge high value capacitors to a high voltage in the range of 250 to 400 VDC$ 3hese high primary voltages do present a dangerous lethal shoc) haBard and caution must be used if you decide to remove the protective cover over the supply and po)e around inside$ If you do decide to do so always discharge the large high voltage capacitors within$ A*ways++ (ne disadvantage of switching type supplies, in particular the older units, is their re*uirement for a minimum load on their output terminals$ 3his will be in the range of to , amps on the >! volt output and from % to amps on the 1 volt output$ @any supplies re*uire this minimum load on the >! volts only$ 3his may present a problem depending on the type of service you intend to place your supply into$ (ne *uic), simple fi+ is to place a 1 or ohm, !-watt load resistor across the >! volt output$ 8lthough you are wasting from 1 $! to ! watts of power, this will settle the supply down and allow it to provide a stable, well regulated output on both the >! and >1 volt outputs$ 3his is also a good techni*ue to use when first testing your new supplies$ 8n additional load resistor may be necessary on the >1 volt output, if so re*uired, depending on the supply in *uestion$ 3his is the caveat mentioned earlier, but will usually not present a big problem$ 3he two 5= receivers in my rac) draw enough power alone, on the 1 -volt bus, to provide this load$ I felt however it was necessary that you be made aware of this factor when dealing with switchers$ Without this load present at & ,ower on& the output voltages will not come up$ &$""I)! "HE '$&&(- "O WOR. 8t this point you have three options for the use of the supply outputs$ Cirst, if your load is at or less than the 1 volt ma+imum rating you may connect your e*uipment to the blac) and yellow leads supplying the voltage to the four pin @ole+-type connectors coming from the supply$ Cor higher power e*uipment, parallel several or all of the blac) leads together and do the same with the yellow leads to minimiBe your voltage drops$ #onnect your load to these new 2unctions$ 8ll wires of the same color are the same voltage$ 8ll blac) wires are common ground or reference point for all voltages$ @ore on this &ground& connection a bit later$ 3here is a long cable coming from the supply containing about twelve wires$ 3his cable formally connected to the motherboard in the 7#$ 3his may be used as a source of your power$ 3he color codes remain the same$ 6our second means of utiliBing this low cost power is to connect the >! 1"# outputs of three separate supplies together in series$ 3his will provide you with >1! 1"# at ! amps on up to the ma+imum rating of the supplies you have ac*uired$ If this >1! volts is beyond the wor)ing voltage range of your e*uipment, once again you have two options$ (ne simple solution is to place one or two !% amp stud diodes, with a heat sin), in series with the >1! 1"# output$ 3his will reduce the output voltage to 1,$. or 1.$: 1"# respectively$ It will also provide isolation between the supplies and any standby batteries you may have in your system$ 1.$: to 1.$< 1"# is also an e+cellent float charge voltage to )eep your sealed lead acid batteries well charged without overcharging$ 8n alternate to the added diode method is to remove the covers on the three supplies and loo) for the >! 1 voltage ad2ustment$ @ost all computer supplies provide at least a >! 1"# ad2ustment$ @any provide a >1 1"# ad2ustment as well$ (nce again &$se %aution& when you have the supply uncovered$ In particular while 8# primary power is applied$ Locate the >! 1"# ad2ustment pot and set each supply output to from , to ,$! volts which will provide a combined output between 1 and 1.$! 1"# or as re*uired for your needs$

6our last option is to use both the first and second choices above$ =+cept for the common ground connections (blac) leads) each of the supply voltages are independent and isolated from each other$ 8s an e+ample, I power my two 5= @aster transmitters using the high current series connected ! volt supplies$ I power each receiver independently with the 1 volt outputs of two of the supplies and use the third 1 volt output for other monitor and scanning receivers with lots of 1 volt power to spare$ A /ew c*osing t0oug0ts: 8lthough there may be a few variations by certain manufacturers, the standard color coding of these 7# power supplies is as followsD (See L-1) "a1*e (23 %O(OR
RE -E((OW WHI"E B($E B(A%. ORA)!E

VO("A!E
45 V % 437 V % 25 V % 237 V % %ommon !r6. 458 'igna* Wire9

%OMME)"'
A** re6 wires common to eac0 ot0er A** ye**ow wires common to eac0 ot0er )ot $se6 )ot $se6 A** 1*ack wire6 common to eac0 ot0er &ower !oo6 (ea6, connect to 45 V %

*Note: @ost 7# 7ower Supplies have an (48E5= wire that provides the &&ower !oo6& signal bac) to the supply$ 3ie this wire to the >! 1"# leads$ Eot all supplies have this feature, however, the supply will provide no output voltages without seeing a positive going ! v signal on this line$ Switching power supplies have several uni*ue properties$ 8mong these is their ability to &7ower Share& between supplies$ 3his means that although the >! volts may be rated at ! amps, it will be capable of supplying a larger output current that if the >1 volt supply is lightly loaded$ 6ou cannot push things too far due to the limits of the power components within the supply$ 3here is a fair amount of leeway in most supplies however$ If a switching supply is overloaded or short-circuited, it will shut down$ Its out voltage will drop to Bero$ "o not attempt to improve the filtering of the output power by adding an additional, large filter capacitor across the output$ When the supply first begins to come up it will see that large cap as a short circuit and shut the supply down$ 8dding an additional capacitor will not only create a problem you will find it is not necessary0 It is suggested, if you are using more than one supply, (the three in series for e+ample) connect all primary main power input circuits together so they are all powered on at the same time$ 8lso, although the switching power supplies suggested here are *uite efficient while operating they will draw a large surge for the first several cycles of primary power after you turn on the 8# power$ 'e sure your 8# main supplying the primary power is not overloaded with other heavy current e*uipment$ 8fter they are switched on however, the three supplies in series will draw about 11%% watts ma+imum under full load$

(ne last caution$ @any power supplies connect all of the &blac)& wires, "# common, to earth (.rd wire ground)$ If this is so with the supplies you have on hand, you must open up the supply and cut the trace or traces that tie this "# common point to ground so the outputs are all floating$ 3his will (EL6 have to be done to the second and third supplies$ 3he first supply will have its 'lac) "# #ommon lead connected to ground in most installations and need not be touched$ If you have considered simply connecting the three 1 1"# outputs together in parallel you must diode isolate the positive lead in each supply before connecting them together$ 8lthough this will wor) fine and provide higher output currents, the output voltage will drop to 11$. 1"#$ 3his can be reduced somewhat through the use of barrier diodes, but the output will now be appro+imately 11$: volts$ If the >1 1"# is ad2ustable in your supplies this will not present a problem simply read2ust the pot to compensate for the series diode voltage drop$ 8s an alternative to using standard 7# power supplies there are many open frame, high current, >! and >1 1"# supplies available (see 7hoto- ) at very reasonable prices on the used and surplus mar)et$ In fact there are several listed now in the antenneX %*assi/ie6 %*earing House (##A) listing under power supplies$ 4emember please & $'E %A$"IO)& when you have your fingers inside these switching supplies$ 8lthough their output voltages are very tame there is a &Tiger in The Cage with Lethal Teeth&0 2:;2 ',er ca artico*u* 6e mai sus sa /ie uti*.