Velleman PS1503SBU Variable 0-30V 3A Bench PSU - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: charliex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 03, 2009, 08:48:38 pm
content: I was doing a soak test on a simple circuit with a few mA (didn't register on the current display) and when i came back to it, it'd stopped responding. So of course i started prodding at connections and checking things etc, luckily before ripping it all apart I looked at the PSU display.Turned out the only thing that didn't survive the soak test was the test bench psu! Instead of 5V it'd gone down to 0.2VSo big thumbs down for that, the 12V was being supplied by another PSU of the same model, at a higher current and it was fine. So probably a manufacturing defect, the board has a couple of large 40/44 pin socketted DIP's and lots of intra/interconnects.I forget the fundamentalwho'll police the police.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 04, 2009, 07:13:26 am
content: I am not to thrilled with Velleman products, I bought their USB to DMX512 kit, but before I built it I looked at A couple of forums on devices to be used with various PC based lighting programs.I found out that this device does not do well at high channel counts (the definition of high was about 64 channels out of a possible 512 lol)I only bought the kit as I was brousing Jaycar lol and all there kits are Velleman.I am never going to buy a kit from Velleman again.I wish DSE and Altronics still did lots of kits, but I know that this is due to lots of up and coming electronics enthusiasts are not interested in kits.Regards,Kat.

author: charliex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 04, 2009, 07:09:29 pm
content: Agreed, it's radio shack/tandy level. Fortunately that's also a good reason to use it for soak testing, since it tests thewhat iffactor !If it survives velleman PSU testing, it'll survive anything

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 10, 2009, 05:49:28 pm
content: unfortunately computers have taken over the hobby window, few people are into electronics like they used to be. I used to buy an electronics magazine in Italy which year after year got worse, putting in kits with virtually no explanation instead of inhouse designs and ultmately moving to computers, naturally i stopped buying it. I did become quite enthusiastic about computers myself, got online and plugged into electronics forums, learnt lots got enthusiastic about electronics again and now I'm doing pics etc.I started by going to maplin's only to find what a rip off it is, stuff is priced way over the odds or it was just never made to actually work, i bought a kit from them and it had a slip of paper in it warning about an error some idiot had made in the parts liost on two caps, the kit came with no explanation as to how it works but was made by a company that provides educational material !These days hobbies are not fashionable and people (especially in england) are very very lazy and electronics is too much for the poor dears brains to handle

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 10, 2009, 11:36:09 pm
content: COmputers are a hobby for some: beefing up hardware, water cooling, overclocking, programming, hacking (heavilly customising thing, not compromising other systems) and playing around with operating systems i.e. Linux, BSD and React OS.Electronics isn't what it used to be and will probably never recover as a hobby because it's so easy to get stuff made in China but things such as MCUs, hacking appliances and interfacing with computers will always be popular.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 11, 2009, 07:58:57 am
content: the thing I like about electronics is that it means you can make customized things to solve a specific problem, you can't always buy from china something that will fill your need. Being able to make exactly what YOU want to me is the ultimate satisfaction,[start rant]but like I said most people are too lazy, we live in a society where being clever is not a "cool" thing. I was told at work I am sad because i know that NiCd batteries have a shelf life of 3 years (this was by an ex QC inspector whose job it is to know these things). Thats great, I won't be the one moaning when he gets a "deal" and buys a load of knackered 1200mAh Batteries. Knowledge is power but people don't see it that way. If your incapable of doing things for yourself you will easily be led by those wanting to take advantage, a hobby is but the best step of preparing young people for work, it gives them something to achieve and aspire to but today in England all a younster aspires to is get as drunk as he can and have a longer hangover than anyone else and feel good about it too (being out of it and incapable)[/end rant]

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 11, 2009, 01:09:27 pm
content: I agree.You seem very pissed off about being told you're sad for knowing about NiCads, this is the third time I've seen you rant about it, come on let it go, ignore stupid comments like that, like you say they're the ones who are going to suffer.I think laziness is a disease caused by not having anything to do and not feeling like doing anything, perhaps some people have far too much time on their hands?I admit, I've become more lazy recently, the less I have to do, the less I'm willing to do. I'm sure I'm not the only person.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 11, 2009, 06:21:27 pm
content: nope its common, when theres not a lot for me to do at work i get lazy too.Well the thing about the batteries is a classic so yes i use it often as an example, its a plain example of how someone is willing to get ripped off and waste their time but for the moments it takes to aquire the simple knowledge.I remeber a work collegue recomending some sort of quiz/puzzle thing to sharpen my mind, I replied: why should I waste my time on that, it requires the same skills / rational reasoning I have to use in designing PCB's the difference being I get something useful out of it instead of using up time just to keep my mind sharp

author: charliex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 23, 2009, 07:44:12 pm
content: yeah i started off electronics, then got drawn into the software side of things, now i get to mix them both.I used to rely on maplins a fair bit, frequent weekend trips to the manchester branch. Luckily one of my uncles took a job at RS Components (when they used to be trade only) and that made things a bit easier. Isn't cheap though, its been a while since i visited their store so i dunno what its like now.Its pretty hard to get stuff locally, internet is next day so thats not so bad, I just always seem to forget something though. Still its fairly amazing places like fry's sell 1206's, though I do tend to whine about how limited the stock is, or them not having anything smaller, I'm pretty sure i'm part of a very small subset of people that buy those components from them.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 23, 2009, 09:42:22 pm
content: it took me a long time to get into pics which is as far as I go in mixing software with electronics.Yes now that RS will sell to anyone its easy to get bits, i order quite regularly but also shop around, farnell are good too and rapidonline sometimes turns up good stuff for a good price as they are more hobbyist orientated, even ebay comes handy now and then.