Hi:
Recently bought a Xantrex XDL-35-5:
I have this Xantrex XPF-350 dual supply on order but don't have yet:
I just received a Kepco XLP-150-16-1200:
A Protek 1805 and 3040T:
Haven't looked closely at noise yet, but here are my reviews:
The Xantrex XDL-35-5 is truly high grade. The interface is easy to use. The precision is excellent. I love the ranges of this supply. The
500mA current range with 0.1mA resolution is great for evaluation of LED light sources. The only thing that's wierd is that the supply outputs a few negative mV when the output is turned off which produced a few -mA into my meter when I was measuring current. It was about 0.014V 0.007A or vice versa, I forget. But since the voltage was very low, I doubt it could actually do anything annoying, unless you were operating is as a voltage reference. In that case, better to leave it turned on at 0.000V.I anticipate the Xantrex XPF-350 will be equally impressive.
The Kepco, at 1200W constant power and able to reach 150V*8A or 75V*16A, compares to only one other product on the market, the Agilent 6030A. The Kepco however lists for $1795 while the Agilent is >$5000.
The Kepco is a little bit awkward. The knobs increment the V/I settings in large non-decimal increments. I quickly discovered though, that pressing the knobs accesses a fine adjust which allows setting to the full display resolution. The only other annoyance is that it sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Well, almost. It's way too loud to be unannoying if it's just a few feet away. I was almost set to send it back and look for another brand until I noticed the price on the Agilent. Now I think it's not so bad for the money. I may just try to swap out the three fans inside for quieter ones.
The Protek products are inexpensive and of "reasonable" quality. I bought two for home. I also bought two for work. I received only my personal copies as of yet. The 1805 works fine (used it to trim my beard this morning). The 3040T buzzes quite a bit in the power transformer. I don't like that, so Tequipment.net will be replacing it. Hopefully the replacement will be Ok. A coworker has a Protek 3033B and it is fine. They have a 2 year warranty which is a plus.
I wish I had the money for the two Xantrex supplies for my home use, but a total of $2000 is just not a wise use of one's meager allowance when I only get a few hours now and then to play. I'll have to settle for the budget brands.
Summary: Very impressed with Xantrex and will buy more in the future. Kepco looks like a good workhorse, just need to put it in another room. I suppose I can control it with a LabVIEW Vi or something, since it includes all the interfaces standard, which is cool. Protek--good enough for general purpose breadboarding and experimenting, for which it has better useability and feature/price ratio than competitors like B&K, Instek, Extech, Sorensen, etc.
We need a web site for test equipment reviews!
Good day!