[Elecraft] Battery charging with PWRGATE and Astron linear or Alnico DM-330V power supplies

[eric norris]

If you use a PWRGATE between your supply and and a battery, you MUST raise the voltage to compensate for the drop across the Schottky diode in the PWRGATE.  The correct voltages for different batteries are in the manual.  Even with my old Astron linear RS-35 it is easy to adjust the output voltage, there is a pot on the board.  The manual is on the Astron site.  The DM-330V has the voltage adjust knob right on the front panel.  I've never found any noise from that power supply, but I will defer to those with a spectrum analyzer.  It does have a freq control so you can move any birdies you find.  A great little power supply.

The PWRGATE is an easy way to use your supply with a back-up battery, and it offers programmable bulk charging rate.  My measurements with a DVM after carefully setting the output voltage of the supply suggest it is charging at the correct float rate.

Eric WD6DBM