Boomer 400 RF making 50 amp switching power supply buzz.

[Captain Kilowatt]

Capacitors are just a bandaid that does not work. They can only supply very short duration current peaks like audio amps demand but are totally unsuitable for any kind of steady current draw because they cannot charge back up until the current draw is removed. In audio service the current demand is constantly swinging from max peak to nearly zero between words. TANSTAAFL

 

[543_Dallas]

The capacitor might help slightly in some situations but isn't a cure for an underrated power supply.

I once tried a 1.5 farad cap on a 20 amp supply with a galaxy 95t. The power supply would fall on its face when I used ssb at more than half power. The capacitor didn't help as far as I could tell.

It ran fine on AM without the cap. Same results with the ts440 I ran on it years later....and they say ssb is more efficient.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

It ran fine on AM without the cap. Same results with the ts440 I ran on it years later....and they say ssb is more efficient.

SSB is a more efficient mode of communications. |Do you think that maybe the fact that running the radio in AM mode versus SSB mode and the inherent power output difference may have had something to do with the difference?

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

I have charged large caps with a test light. It would be something to try if you already have it but I agree that if the supply is maxed out to begin with then it probably won't help. One time I hooked a 12v car battery to my Antron power supply in order to run a big subwoofer amp on the workbench. It worked for about 2 seconds and then the power supply went out. I then learned all about the crow bar circuit that fried in the supply. I should have had a big diode between the battery and supply. LOL I plan on getting a Megawatt supply for my new shack setup.

 

[543_Dallas]

SSB is a more efficient mode of communications. |Do you think that maybe the fact that running the radio in AM mode versus SSB mode and the inherent power output difference may have had something to do with the difference?

Settle down. We all know slop bucket is more efficient. Modulated am and ssb pep power was the same. Both radios draw more current in ssb mode and power output was higher if measured with an average reading meter. Probably something to do with that area under the curve thing.

 

[Onelasttime]

Unless you are talking about using middle school girl or high school boy sized Mallory SUper caps like key done idiots are now found of just leave the caps alone and get a better supply.

If your reflect is 20-30 watts that should have killed your radio. Few radio's can take that for any amount of time and even fewer radios using non-rf fets can take that abuse.

If you changed out all the coax and had that much reflect going into a dummy load on two different amps I almost want to say your meter is not working right!

 

[Onelasttime]

On the cross needles meter, it is about how you want to see your data. Most meter only shows you one bit of data at a time. The cross needles show you two different data set's at one time which allows you to see trends if you know what you are looking at.

In a high-performance airplane, you will have exhaust gas temps, manifold pressure, rpms, pounds per hour fuel flow, pressure and a lot of other data. If the person looking at that data is competent they can see issues as they are initially developing before an idiot light would come on and it gives them a high level of consistency in setting power output. On the other hand, giving people that are untrained or just do not have the ability to process that much data that information is just a waste.

It also makes for a more compact meter and prob. cheaper to manufacture as well. I do not see them as better or worse.

 

[2315 Robert]

On the cross needles meter, it is about how you want to see your data. Most meter only shows you one bit of data at a time. The cross needles show you two different data set's at one time which allows you to see trends if you know what you are looking at.

In a high-performance airplane, you will have exhaust gas temps, manifold pressure, rpms, pounds per hour fuel flow, pressure and a lot of other data. If the person looking at that data is competent they can see issues as they are initially developing before an idiot light would come on and it gives them a high level of consistency in setting power output. On the other hand, giving people that are untrained or just do not have the ability to process that much data that information is just a waste.

It also makes for a more compact meter and prob. cheaper to manufacture as well. I do not see them as better or worse.

Thank you for the replies. I had an idea something was wonky. Just could not quantify it. There is no crazy heat in the amps. The swr should be an indicator of what LeapFrog mentioned on the anther post. If the swr is below 2 the the reflect could not be that high. Thanks again.