So something that didn’t really cross my mind too much when I was first picking my equipment, was how am I going to power this?!? Obviously this is a really important part, so the diving in for a decent first setup began.
Requirements
Yaesu state that the radio needs 13.8v with the ability to supply a continuos 20a and 30a during surges. This rules out my existing bench power supplies that were up to 10a. It should be noted, that this is an 80w radio, and I will have to tune it down to 10w for my Foundation license, so I may not need that much power. Yaesu also specifies that there is a 15% tolerance in the power, so 13.8v +/- 15% allows us to get a power supply that sits at 12v.
Yaesu FP-1030A
The entry power supply, sold by the same place I bought my radio from, is the Yaesu FP-1030A. This supplies 13.8v DC with a continuos 25amps or 30amps surge. It includes handy features like a voltage and an amperage gauge, which we will be really interested in measuring when we get setup, as we will be wanting to get a mobile setup going too.
AC Transformer Regulated Power Supply - 240v to 12v - 30A
12v 30a AC Transformer for $39.99
A friend I was speaking with then recommended one of these. I have seen them used in CCTV setups before, but didn’t think they did such high current. These ones specify they can run at 30a so definitely worth getting to test, especially at that pricepoint. When it comes, we will hook up the scope and measure how clean the power is and put it under load to see how it stands up.
Customising a PC Power Supply
The next is using what I have so many of laying around; an ATX desktop power supply. The more entry level power supplies definitely don’t have these specifications, but a modern power supply has quite high power requirements. This one states it has two 12v rails each with 35a which should be more then enough for our radio’s load. It also has a 5v rail and a 3.3v rail that we could use to power an RPI and an Arduino as we make improvements and look to add functionality to our setup.
Quick Maths:
- 12v is exactly -15% of 13.8v, so within tolerance.
- 30a + 15% (running at 12v) is 34.5a for the peak load.
- Total usage with peak loads will be 420w, leaving 228w spare for other accessories.
Making a choice
Of all the options, while the ATX Power Supply will require the most work, it is the most versatile. We can get an ATX Molex connector so we can swap the power supply at will. Solder that connector to a PCB with a few barrel jacks, a switch, and a USB port for charging, and we have quite a decent power supply. There have been some comments on forums that these may be noisey, but I’m not sure if that counts to modern power supplies. The radio should also have an inbuilt filter, and running on the 2M band, interference should be minimal. We can always pull out the oscilloscope and check if the power is dirty, just to be sure. But having these laying around means it’s a cheap option that gives more versatility to the bench.