W0LED-10 Gateway System Update

Following a few too many instances of my gateway going down due to an old, tired power supply, it has been replaced with a considerably newer Astron linear supply.

The old supply was a 1980s vintage Tripplite 35A regulated supply -- a decent supply except for the fact that it didn't respond gracefully to the occasional line glitch. It crowbarred very nicely but it would routinely take out the 5A line fuse. Since my Gateway operates remotely from the garage, and my garage is a disaster (or a well endowed junk box, depending on your point of view), it was often difficult to access to replace the darned fuse.

My oldest Astron linear supply is newer than the Tripplite. I often will pick up a used 7, 10, or 12A supply at a hamfest. The Astrons have only rarely faulted and then only in the very worst of electrical storms. The Tripplite's only function was to charge the 100 A-H AGM deep cycle battery in the case of a post-power outage recharge. Most of the time the power supply is only trickle charging the battery. If the power goes out for four or five days the battery can keep the transceiver and TNC going. When power is restored the WMR Epic PWRgate is programmed to recharge the battery at a maximum of 10A. So the replacement Astron is a 10A supply with the output voltage adjusted up to about 14.5VDC.

The PC is an Intel NUC running Windows 10. It's power is derived from a fairly large capacity APC UPS. The UPS/NUC combination is good for at least three to four days of operation without mains power. The monitor is turned off unless I need it for some maintenance task. I can do most everything remotely using Splashtop.

I've held off noting this system upgrade for a few months and I hope now I'm not jinxing things by even mentioning it. Knock on wood!

73!