On Mon, 10 Nov 2008 05:04:03 -0800 (PST), JOHN wrote:
>Can anyone give me an idea what they are using for a power supply
>for the Hercule 2
I asked this question when I bought my Herc II several years ago,
and I got several replies from guys who were running from a big
battery that was floated from a decent power supply.
The key to successful operation of the Herc II at full output is
maintaining a relatively stiff supply voltage as close as
practical to 13.8 volts, and running it into a well-matched load.
I use Ten Tec 229 and 238 tuners.
It's also important that it be well air-cooled. If it gets too
hot, protection circuitry will shut it down. The fan in my amp
didn't run when I bought it used, and I never got around to
troubleshooting it. As a temporary expedient, I rigged a muffin
fan to blow on it, and that's been sufficient to let me run heavy
duty cycle contesting.
Because I use the amp for serious contesting. I'm being VERY
conservative and using two Astron RS70s with their voltage sensing
terminals strapped together. For more casual operation, a single
RS70 would probably work be fine. I'm also running short big
copper between the power supplies and the amp.
I just loaned my Herc II to the P29NI DXpedition crew, who used it
to light up New Guinea on 160M. They said it worked very well. I
don't know how they powered it. I warned AD6E about the fan, and
he jury-rigged a replacement before hitting the road with it.
73,
Jim K9YC
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