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Comment by blendo

8 years ago

"A key development is the Multi-Voltage Power Supply (MVPS), which interfaces with multiple electric outlet connection types on ISS and provides a multitude of power output capabilities for our current and future ARISS operations and amateur radio experimentation. It will also allow our Ham Video system to have a dedicated power outlet, eliminating the outlet sharing we have now, which shuts down Ham Video at times."

Looks like quite a feat to qualify a spacecraft power supply!

Question for hams: since USB Power Delivery can supply 20V at 5A, might USB serve as a standardized power source for radio amplifiers? How "clean" is the power?

4 comments

blendo

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jdietrich  8 years ago

>since USB Power Delivery can supply 20V at 5A, might USB serve as a standardized power source for radio amplifiers?

Probably not. A typical amateur transceiver draws about 300W on transmit, which massively exceeds the 100W limit of USB Power Delivery. A linear amplifier running at the American legal limit will draw as much as 3.5kW.

The de-facto standard for mobile equipment is 13.8v DC +/- 10%, which allows for operation on standard lead-acid batteries.

DarronWyke  8 years ago

>Looks like quite a feat to qualify a spacecraft power supply!

It's actually a hell of a feat to get any kind of electronics certified for outer space use.

The atmosphere we have blocks a HUGE portion of ionizing radiation, including x-rays and gamma rays. Those forms of energy will play merry hell with any kind of sensitive electronics, so they have to be suitably ruggedized -- far more so than even most military specs which mostly call for shock, impact, and exposure to elements. Since they can be supplying power to sensitive electronics, where half a volt can be the difference between containing and letting out the magic smoke, that sort of regulation is absolutely key.

superkuh  8 years ago

Even for things that use 5v USB explicitly I try not to use USB power. Instead I use a linear regulator to drop down the voltage to it instead of the noisy/efficient switching power supplies in USB power units.