Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Trucker
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Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby Trucker » Wed Jul 20, 2022 10:18 pm

Hopefully, this is in the correct forum.
I recently acquired a nice, used 8000DLE. I have a 60 Amp linear power supply that I have had for years. But, it seems it has problems at higher amperage draw. I also have an Astron 35M that I use with my 100 Watt radios. Until I can find another Astron, ( maybe a 50 or 70 model) is it safe to use the lower amperage supply? Or will it cause issues with the internal 50 Volt supply for the PA?
Any suggestions would be welcome.
James
WD5GWY
AG5CK
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby AG5CK » Wed Jul 20, 2022 10:47 pm

Turn the drive down enough that your power supply doesn't fall on it's face when you click the tune button. As long as you aren't running the radio beyond the capability of the power supply all will be fine.

Pay attention to the continuous ratings on the linear Astron's. The advertised ratings are peak amprage.

73
Trucker
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby Trucker » Wed Jul 20, 2022 11:17 pm

AG5CK wrote:Turn the drive down enough that your power supply doesn't fall on it's face when you click the tune button. As long as you aren't running the radio beyond the capability of the power supply all will be fine.

Pay attention to the continuous ratings on the linear Astron's. The advertised ratings are peak amprage.

73

Thanks for the reply. I knew about the peak vs continuous ratings. I am hoping to find a decent deal on something that will provide at least 45 to 50 amps continuously. I have a switching power supply here that is rated up to 75 amps. But, it seems to put out more RFI than I had when I used it in the past on my workbench. It made the 8000DLE almost unusable.
I noticed on your qrz page, that you are running an 8000DLE. This is my first Anan radio and 8000DLE. So, it's a learning curve here!
What power supply are you running with your 8000? It seems setting up the PA properly is a real chore. I have been using Ritchie's YouTube video for his latest Beta and the setup for the PA in that version. Having a problematic power supply makes it even worse. When I first followed the setup video, the initial (default) settings gave me nearly 600 watts on a couple of bands till I turned the Tune Slider almost to zero. That made my heart beat a lot faster!!! I guess there are no settings for the PA that are "middle of the road" for the different Anan radios. ( as I understand it, it is because of hardware and temp differences among other things) It makes setting up properly confusing.
Thanks for the information.
James
WD5GWY
(Fort Worth)
AG5CK
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby AG5CK » Thu Jul 21, 2022 12:56 am

Trucker wrote:
AG5CK wrote:Turn the drive down enough that your power supply doesn't fall on it's face when you click the tune button. As long as you aren't running the radio beyond the capability of the power supply all will be fine.

Pay attention to the continuous ratings on the linear Astron's. The advertised ratings are peak amprage.

73

Thanks for the reply. I knew about the peak vs continuous ratings. I am hoping to find a decent deal on something that will provide at least 45 to 50 amps continuously. I have a switching power supply here that is rated up to 75 amps. But, it seems to put out more RFI than I had when I used it in the past on my workbench. It made the 8000DLE almost unusable.
I noticed on your qrz page, that you are running an 8000DLE. This is my first Anan radio and 8000DLE. So, it's a learning curve here!
What power supply are you running with your 8000? It seems setting up the PA properly is a real chore. I have been using Ritchie's YouTube video for his latest Beta and the setup for the PA in that version. Having a problematic power supply makes it even worse. When I first followed the setup video, the initial (default) settings gave me nearly 600 watts on a couple of bands till I turned the Tune Slider almost to zero. That made my heart beat a lot faster!!! I guess there are no settings for the PA that are "middle of the road" for the different Anan radios. ( as I understand it, it is because of hardware and temp differences among other things) It makes setting up properly confusing.
Thanks for the information.
James
WD5GWY
(Fort Worth)


Mine is a 7000. They used to put them in a stainless case like the 8000. I use an Astron 70 for my shack but I don't have a 200 watt rigs to test it with.

I don't have any experience with the 8000 but I think the PA gain settings can be adjusted so that it only produces 200 watts with the drive slider at 100%. I've had two Anan radios and both required a PA calibration. The latest version of Thetis goes a step further and will allow you to calibrate the drive slider after you set maximum output on each band.

It might be a good idea to check the frequency calibration against the WWV and calibrate it if necessary.
Trucker
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby Trucker » Thu Jul 21, 2022 1:53 am

Thanks for the reply. I looked you up on qrz and saw your 7000 and thought it was an 8000DLE.
I probably need to find another Astron with higher current than my 35M.
James
WD5GWY
K9RX
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby K9RX » Thu Jul 21, 2022 11:51 am

James, Something weird going on there... almost 600W!? What are your power settings set at? Go to PA Settings tab - Gain for say 20M (or a band)... what is it currently set at? Are you aware that going up with the value reduces the output? That might have been counterintuitive to you and you went down. A value of above 55 on my 8000 really reduces the output and most are in the 53-ish range. This is for a max power out of about 40W as it is driving an amp. On 30M it is like 60 (even lower to keep output legal). So try setting it to say 60 - you should find you have full control using the slider of a smaller peak value. Then adjust downward - a little at a time - until you see what you are looking for. It might be if indeed the PS is a limit at 200W that you might need to go no higher than 150W or so ... but it could well be, if you are seeing huge excesses in power, that the supply is reaching a true over-current situation.

Gary
K9RX
Joe
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby Joe » Thu Jul 21, 2022 1:15 pm

To adjust PA just watch this video : https://youtu.be/2VFeawGZ-is

James,
Good to see you here, I used to see your posts on the Flex site at times; used to run a 6500 but swapped to the Anan 8000 quite some time back and absolutely love the Anan. Anyway check out the YouTube video that Richie made on the PA setup above with Thetis, really good. You can set the ceiling at 200 or 100 or 60 watts as I do; I run a LDMOS amp and do not want too high of an input. Be sure you are going in the right gain direction, it is inverse. Check out my qrz page, shows my setup but I have made a few upgrades since then. You will be very happy with the 8000.

73’s
WD5Y
Joe
Trucker
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby Trucker » Thu Jul 21, 2022 2:34 pm

Gary, the 600 watts reading was the Thetis FWD power meter reading. I immediately clicked Tune off. Afterwards, I realized that I had not been looking at my inline watt meter. So, I went back and selected the 8000DLE default settings. I had been following Ritchie's video on another computer. This was while I was using a 75 amp switching power supply I have. The big Walt Williams linear supply turned out to be having problems. That one was a 60 amp supply.
With the 60 amp supply, I could only get 58 watts out at best.
I am going to use my Astron 35M for now till I can get a bigger linear supply. That should give me 100 watts safely. I wasn't sure if that would create problems. So, I figured I should ask. Some radios I have used in the past would still draw the same amperage on transmit even if the drive was turned down.
Thanks for the information.
James
WD5GWY
Trucker
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby Trucker » Thu Jul 21, 2022 2:48 pm

Hello Joe, I remember seeing your callsign on the Flex Community.
I appreciate any advice you can share about the 8000DLE.
I have been following Richie's video for calibration with the latest beta of Thetis.
As in my previous post, I wasn't looking at my inline watt meter when I saw the high output.
When I tried it later after resetting the defaults, and looking at the inline watt meter, things seemed to be normal. Except, the switching supply was putting out a lot RFI that I had not seen in the past when using it on my test bench. The reason I quit using it there was it was loud(fan).
I replaced it with an old Astron 25 amp supply on the test/work bench. (No noise)
I am going to try using my Astron 35M today. If I can get the 8000DLE to run 100 watts for now,I will use it till I can get a bigger linear supply for the 8000DLE
James
WD5GWY
Trucker
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby Trucker » Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:32 pm

Final update on my power supply issue. I experienced a lot of odd problems when trying to Calibrate the PA in my 8000DLE. I tried to blame my old 60 amp linear power supply. I felt sure it wasn't putting out hardly any current when attempting to Calibrate the PA using the Tune slider as Ritchie does in his latest YouTube video demonstrating PA Calibration with the latest beta version of Thetis. To that end, I tried a 75 amp switching power supply I have. Same results., varied power output to no output at all. So I thought the switching supply was defective too.
Well, it turns out neither one was defective.
I was doing some Google searches late last night when I ran across a website of a ham that had purchased an 8000DLE when they were first made available. He experienced same problems I was having. It turned out the "problem " was the STANDBY button on the 8000DLE was pushed in. He hadn't noticed that the LCD display showed STNDBY /RX in the lower right corner of the display. According to the 8000DLE manual, the Standby position disables the transmitter. But, allows the receiver to control work.
He pushed the button and it popped out ( a little bit) and then the LCD display showed " Operate/RX". At that point he was able to Calibrate the PA with no problems. And got full power output. I went back to my radio room and powered the Astron 35M up. Then the computer and the 8000DLE. I looked at the LCD display, and sure enough, the display showed STNDBY/RX!
I pushed the Standby button, it popped out. The display showed OPERATE/ RX!
I did an initial Calibration on 20 meters ( into dummy load) . Power output would go as high as 148 watts. With current draw showing correctly on the LCD display ,my power supply and in Thetis. I tried tried transmitting SSB into the dummy load and voice peaks were close to 150 watts. This morning I reconnected the 60 amp linear supply and did more Calibration. 200 watts output on all bands. Voltage,amperage was showing correctly In all three places and the numbers all matched. Had I not kept researching this problem I might have sent it off to Doug, W5WC. I had emailed him last night and he responded this morning and said that from my description, the PA may be having problems. I let him know later what I found out and posted here.
One thing that does confuse or concern me is, even though the radio was in Standby, clicking on Tune and moving the slider showed wattage on my inline watt meter and the one in Thetis. But, no detectable current draw. And power output was not very much. And trying to transmit SSB, zero output.
I would think Standby would do exactly what the manual says and disables the PA. But, it doesn't completely.
Anyway problem solved.
James
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby w-u-2-o » Fri Jul 22, 2022 9:51 pm

The schematics are not very clear to me, but I think the standby button only disables the 50V supply. The driver amp section on the Orion MKII board will continue to produce power even when the unit is ostensibly in standby.
Trucker
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Re: Using lower amperage power supply with 8000DLE

Postby Trucker » Fri Jul 22, 2022 10:29 pm

w-u-2-o wrote:The schematics are not very clear to me, but I think the standby button only disables the 50V supply. The driver amp section on the Orion MKII board will continue to produce power even when the unit is ostensibly in standby.

Thank you Scott. That would explain to odd problems I was having.
The guy I bought the 8000DLE from included a nice binder with a lot of documentation for the 8000DLE. I think I will add a note about the effects of the Standby button in it.
James
WD5GWY

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