Steve, W2MY wrote: Just a note to all about Astron Power supplies in general. The Astron linear power supplies that I have owned were very nice, but please realize that the "20" in in their name, I believe, is for a tempory peak amount of amps... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------
The Astron 20 is rated at 20 amps ICS. ICS (used to be called ICAS) simply means Intermittent Commercial Service. (The older ICAS designation included the word "Amateur".) Unless one plans to put a brick on the key and run full carrier 24/7 without ever switching to receive, the ICS rating is the important number. K2/100's will vary in their current demand somewhat, but the current demands of mine should be typical. At 100 watts output it requires a low of 15.5 amps on 20 meters to a high of 18.5 amps on 15 meters across all the bands from 160 through 10 (including 60 meters). Again, those are intermittent peaks, of course, when keying CW or on SSB voice peaks. The average drain is much, much lower. That's well within the normal rating of any supply rated at 20 amps ICS. When adjusting an antenna tuner, always tune up at reduced power. Ideally, use only the minimum power needed by the SWR bridge. When faced with severe SWR conditions such as exist while adjusting the tuner, almost any rig will draw excessive current. Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
