Compact bench power supplies can deliver 100W across three channels

Available now from Farnell element14, Rohde & Schwarz's HMC804x series of power supplies can deliver up to 100W of power across one (HMC8041), two (HMC8042) or three (HMC8043) channels and are adjustable between 0V and 32V in steps of 1mV. The affordable instruments offer powerful features including tracking, which is available in the two multichannel models and enables combined parallel or serial operation, although the power supplies can also provide power to several circuits independently. FuseLink combines the safety switch-off current limits for multiple channels. If a channel exceeds its limit, the combined channels also shut off. This enables two circuits with different voltages connected to a power supply to have overload protection, for example, while at the same time a third circuit can continue operating, such as a fan to provide interruption-free cooling. The sequencing function enables multiple channels to be started sequentially over a period of up to ten seconds. The switch-on times for each channel can be set with up to 1ms resolution. The logging function stores all current, voltage and time values, while the energy meter function continuously displays the wattage drawn by a connected load. This is particularly useful as consistent reduction of energy consumption is a growing trend in circuit development. The power supplies also offer the EasyRamp and Arbitrary features. EasyRamp is used to simulate start-up curves for a set output voltage. The ramp can be set within a time window of ten seconds with a resolution of 10ms. The Arbitrary function enables the programming of user-defined current and voltage (V/I) curves, with the relevant inputs being set manually or by remote control. Up to 512 points and up to 255 repetitions can be defined.