Making a power suppy is one of the first projects any self respecting
> hobbiest does. If you want cheap quality try ebay. You should also
> consider what you intend to run from the supply, It's not a bargain if
> it fries a =EF=BF=BD400 circuit board.
I've already built a couple of my own (some of my first projects when I was a teenager), but they lack some of the features of the commercial models - for example, putting the outputs in series and slaving them together (to get a +/- supply), current limiting, digital readouts, etc. I did consider either "upgrading" one of my home-built power supplies, or building a new one, but I'm almost certain the cost will be more than buying a commercial unit, not to mention the time involved in a project that is a diversion from what I want to be working on. It seems like < $200 for a triple-output power supply is a bargain.
Repairability is something that concerns me. I know at least one of the supplies I listed (the CSI one) uses SMD technology, which does not sound very friendly if something goes wrong with it. To that end, I am looking over some of the used power supplies on ebay, which might be slightly older, but possibly be something I could fix if I fry it.
Scott