Short survey - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: fospsq
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 12:16:35 pm
content: For my school engineering project, I am going to build a power supply for electronics hobbyists. I have to do some research first, so I would be really grateful if anyone fills out this short survey:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K9RGBZJMy idea is to make a bench power supply that is powered by a laptop charger, so I would not be working straight from the mains (not allowed). Thanks for your help!

author: mathsquid
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 12:23:12 pm
content: Would you post the results when the survey is finished?

author: bitshift
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 12:26:45 pm
content: DonePlease post the results when you are done. It would be very interesting to see.

author: MikeW
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 12:31:28 pm
content: Quote from: fospsq on October 27, 2015, 12:16:35 pmBack in my day they wouldn't have even let us do that.If it didn't work with a 9volt battery then you couldn't do it. No arguments.

author: MikeW
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 12:58:41 pm
content: Quote from: AcHmed99 on October 27, 2015, 12:52:57 pmThis was when doing my Electronics GCSE at secondary school.Wouldn't have gone so far as to call it an engineering lab, more like a classroom with some soldering irons.I suppose they took the view it just wasn't worth the risk in case they got sued or something. I also suspect they took the view that you just didn't need to do anything with mains to cover the general point of the syllabus, so again, why take the risk.Although we were allowed to use acid baths to etch PCBs

author: fospsq
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 01:23:31 pm
content: I'll gladly post the results when its finished!

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 01:40:54 pm
content: Quote from: MikeW on October 27, 2015, 12:31:28 pmBlimey.We had tesla coils, van de Graff generators, radioactive sources (although one of my friends fob watches was so strong it had to be destroyed at Harwell!), lead acid accumulators (=high current), Weston cells (= zero current), mercury, metallic sodium and potassium, dead lab mice for dissection, tested for hydrogen by explofing it with a "squeaky pop", and many other interesting things. And the explosions of stoichimetrically correct mixtures of oxygen and acetylene at the Royal Institution were great fun. Happy days.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 02:19:57 pm
content: Can you elaborate on "Floating output(s)"? Is this with respect to earth, or with respect to the other channels in a multichannel supply? There's abigdifference in how I (and probably many others) would rank those.

author: Bob F.
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 02:44:34 pm
content: Done. Let us know how it all goes.

author: BillyD
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 02:53:30 pm
content: Done.Actually I'd be interested to see what other people put into the 'Are there any features not mentioned above that you consider essential in a power supply?' question. For me it was:- silent or near silent operation- low ripple- clear uncluttered display

author: dmills
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 04:17:12 pm
content: Just because I have a POS TENMA on the bench at work that FAILS this bit....The Voltmeter needs to read output voltage setpoint when the output switch is turned off, NOT READ ZERO when the output is off. How useless is that? For bonus points make the current meter read current limit setpoint when the output is off.I successfully built a valve based radio transmitter within the 9V battery limitation at school, I Just used 100 9V Nicad packs in series for B+. The teacher never clocked what I was doing, turns out that 900V DC @ 100mA is quite sufficient to talk around the world on 20M CW, also turns out that 9V battery snaps are **not** rated to break 900V DC under load, and neither are small glass fuses....Regards, Dan.

author: fospsq
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 06:45:53 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on October 27, 2015, 02:19:57 pmI meant both with respect to earth and with respect to all the other channels (if there are multiple). Could someone please explain for me how a set of outputs could be floating with respect to each other but not with respect to earth?I'm sorry for the confusion!

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 06:48:59 pm
content: Quote from: fospsq on October 27, 2015, 06:45:53 pmYou are young. You are making (small) mistakes. You are learning from them. Good!As I told my daughter, don't worry about making correctable mistakes, but do try to makenewmistakes

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 06:54:03 pm
content: Quote from: fospsq on October 27, 2015, 06:45:53 pmWell, they can't really - but the survey isn't just about multichannel supplies, so if the question implied asinglechannel then it's possible. And IMO having that single channel floating wrt earth is absolutely essential, I will not buy any power supply that is earth-referenced (with minor exceptions; my HV power supply is earth referenced for specific safety reasons).QuoteNo problem dude, if the worst thing that happens to me is some confusion I'm having a good day

author: crispy_tofu
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 08:01:07 pm
content: Done.

author: Wirehead
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 08:24:32 pm
content: Done!

author: Vgkid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 08:59:09 pm
content: Done, I pretty much use bought power supplies(that is what I use now), though I'am building one...

author: Ryano
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2015, 09:39:41 pm
content: Done!