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Old 11-20-19, 12:54 PM   #5
rvCharlie
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: central MS
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I've got the 10A version of the one CrankyDoug linked. I've never put a 'scope on its output, but I've used it to check out and ultimately fully power the instrument panel (EFIS with associated hardware, transponder, Garmin 430 GPS/Nav/Comm, intercom, etc) in the RV-7 I'm building. As a FWIW, the guy who literally (in the literal sense :-) ) wrote the book on experimental aircraft wiring (Aeroelectric Connection), owns one and recommended it to me for day-to-day use.

Cheap does have its limitations. If you buy one, read the instructions carefully on how it's used (power it up prior to attaching the load, etc). The displays show what's actually happening; not what you're dialing in with the knobs. I 'calibrated' my knobs to get me in the ballpark with volts and current limits shortly after I bought mine.

As we say in aviation, 'everything's a compromise.'

While 'switcher' power supplies can be noisy, whether it matters depends on how you're using them. If your uses are that uncommon and your'e unsure whether the potential noise will matter, it probably won't. :-)

edit, to Neil: What you say has merit, but should be tempered a bit by factoring user and application. If I were a mechanic making my living with hand tools, I probably wouldn't find much of use at Harbor Freight. But if I can get 10 years of useful life (at the rate I use one) out of a $10 angle grinder, or the rest of my life out of a $150 name-brand grinder, and I'm 68 years old, I'll probably go with HF. :-) I own a *lot* of tools; some are high end and some are HF (or even cheaper, when I need to mod a tool for a special, single use).

Charlie
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