Author Topic: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply  (Read 3218 times)

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Offline DaleReid

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High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« on: May 22, 2014, 09:18:35 AM »
As some might remember, I lost some stuff to a nearby lightning strike.  One of the toast items was the wall wart I was using, actually a 'left over' USB type that had powered the apple i-something that I had.

With the RED being high priority, I pressed into action another wall supply that had been previously charging a droid phone of some sort.  My wife's.  For some odd reason she wants it back.

So I'm going to need to find a good quality, low noise, high power (who knows what the next add-on to our stations that Egon and team will come up with) wall wart or plug on a cord-power out of box, type of supply.  ebay or amazon is fine for the US for me.

I know there have been some reviews of many supplies and not all are equal, not all can push out the current and do so effortlessly, and a review I can't find any more compared the quality (purity) of voltage and lack of noise on the power out line, and there were quite some differences.

Does anyone here have a recommendation for a supply?  All too often the supplies are just cubes stuck into the product box you are buying, and probably change from lot to lot, rather than have a consistent brand or such.  Nonetheless, I thought I'd ask to see if anyone can assist.

Dale
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Offline 92merc

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Re: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2014, 09:34:46 AM »
This is the one I am currently running.  The ports don't have all the same amperage.  But I'm sure any one of them is good enough.  I wish someone with the right equipment could test this to see how clean it actually is.

Looking at my controller page, voltage is fairly consistent.  I've always seen 4.91 to 4.92.  Doesn't appear to waiver.

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Offline Cutty Sark Sailor

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Re: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2014, 10:10:30 AM »
http://www.powerstream.com/AC-1898.htm You'll need to replace the end connector with a USB mini jack. Lock the switch to 5v. This thing is rock steady, and very quiet.
 


Offline miraculon

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Re: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« Reply #3 on: May 22, 2014, 12:21:48 PM »
I have one of these: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=20043.msg193085#msg193085

Mine has been reliable, but another forum member had a problem with his. He was able to repair it though.

It has low noise and at least mine ran a little lower voltage which helps the display issue.

Greg


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Offline W3DRM

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Re: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2014, 07:14:27 PM »
http://www.powerstream.com/AC-1898.htm You'll need to replace the end connector with a USB mini jack. Lock the switch to 5v. This thing is rock steady, and very quiet.

Finally got some time to get this job completed. I have now installed the Powerstream PS, as recommended by Cutty. I've attached a couple screen shots of the resulting waveforms.

The first two are of the Old & New 5volt output and the second two are the Old and New signals waveforms.
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Offline JonathanW

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Re: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2014, 09:29:05 PM »
Very nice improvement :)

Offline W3DRM

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Re: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« Reply #6 on: July 27, 2014, 12:58:56 AM »
Yes, I am quite pleased with the results. I just realized I had not reset the LCD screen to turn off after 60 seconds so I have now changed that.  Nighttime is noisier here than daytime so I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see any differences in the noise levels with the LCD off.

My next project is to get all of the boards installed in the Bud cases I've had for several months and mounted on the office wall. As they say, one step at a time...
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Offline Knickohr

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Re: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« Reply #7 on: July 27, 2014, 03:44:32 AM »
12V-solar-powered :



http://www.ebay.de/itm/261435825043

But heavy noisy environment (look at channel C) :sad:

Thomas
« Last Edit: July 27, 2014, 03:47:48 AM by Knickohr »

Offline W3DRM

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Re: High quality, low noise USB wall wart or plug in supply
« Reply #8 on: July 27, 2014, 08:20:08 PM »
Interesting, here is a snap-shot of my daytime 5-volt PS level. I can't believe how quiet the DC voltage is. I've never seen it this low before. Mike's suggestion to use the PowerStream power supply appears to be the "real deal"!  \:D/

For some reason it appears to have lower ripple during the day than at night. Perhaps I'm getting some radiated or induced noise from the lamp dimmers I have throughout my house.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2014, 08:21:48 PM by W3DRM »
Don - W3DRM - Emmett, Idaho --- Blitzortung ID: 808 --- FlightRadar24 ID: F-KBOI7
Davis Wireless VP2, WD 10.37s150,
StartWatch, VirtualVP, VPLive, Win10 Pro
--- Logitech HD Pro C920 webcam (off-line)
--- RIPE Atlas Probe - 32849