what power supply to buy?

[panda]

hi all. i'm starting to get into electronics as a hobby and want to buy a benchtop power supply. i do not know what i should buy though. i know about building one with an atx PS but do not want to go that route. i would like at least 24 volts and not sure about the current. right now i'm playing around with the innards of RC cars and want to move up from there.

thanks

 

[davenn]

hi panda
welcome to the Electronics Point forum

there's a huge variation of benchtop PSU's out there and doing a search in these forums will show several discussions over recent times.

but as a basic starting point...
look for one that is variable volts and current say ~ 0 to 30V and 0 to 3Amps (maybe 5A) depends on what types of projects you envision that you may get into in the future.
A respectable PSU like above is going to cost you ~ $200 - 300 Australian or USA $$

some google searching for benchtop variable PSU's will bring up lots of hits for sales

cheers
Dave

 

[CocaCola]

You might want to hit up garage sales, I scored both of mine at garage sales the same year for $15 and $20 respectably... It's the last thing I would have expected to find, but it's also the last thing normal garage sale junkies will snag...

 

[duke37]

A scrap audio amplifier could give you +/- 30V and some of the components to provide voltage regulation and heat sinks. Current limitation should be included for experimental use.

 

[panda]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've done some googling and I've seen some power supplies under $100 us and some over $300 with basically the same specs. I've read something about "ripple" and I don't know what that is.

 

[mostafa_naderi]

yellow line shown littell ripple
and blue line shown big ripple

this is voltage ripple

 

[panda]

Ok, I decided on a protek brand power supply. Should I get a dual output unit or a single output. I'm starting out so a single is plenty for now I'm sure, but would it be wise to get a dual output power supply? Thanks again

 

[(*steve*)]

If you're planning to use op-amps (or make audio amplifiers) then a dual supply is a good bet.

Otherwise, you may not need it.

 

[davenn]

hi panda

if you can afford it, get the dual output. you are likely to find it wont be long before you need a dual rail supply for playing with Op-Amps etc or you just need 2 different voltages

cheers
Dave