[Elecraft] 120V vs 240V

[Phil & Debbie Salas]

I ran 240VAC to my shack for my ALS-600.  I have the switching power supply, and the ALS-600 draws very close to 15 amps with the switcher.  As my shack is diagonally across the house from the breaker panel, I was actually seeing 20VAC drop in the wiring.  This caused two problems:  Lots of light flickering in the shack, and sometimes the power supply would trip out because as the input AC dropped, the input AC current would increase and trip the ALS-600 switching supply input current sensor.

However, the KPA500 only draws about 9-amps at 120VAC.  While I could set it up for 240VAC (and I probably will one of these days), at 9-amps there is no lamp flickering in my shack, no noticable AC voltage drop, and I can put out the full 500 watts with no problem.

Phil - AD5X