Best power supplies for ham radio

A power supply is the least interesting purchase in a station and one of the easiest to get wrong, because the specification that matters is not the one on the front of the box. A radio does not draw its rated current steadily. It draws almost nothing on receive and a great deal in short peaks on transmit, and those peaks are what the supply has to survive without sagging.

The symptom of an undersized supply is not a dead radio. It is distorted audio, low output, and other operators telling you that you sound bad on peaks, which sends people looking at their microphone and their antenna for weeks.

Everything here is researched from published specifications and verified owner reports rather than from testing we have not done. Run your own numbers with the power supply sizing calculator.

Why the transmit peak is the only number that matters

Manufacturers quote a supply two ways: continuous current and peak or intermittent current. A radio on SSB voice is an intermittent load with a high crest factor, so it repeatedly asks for its full draw for a fraction of a second. If the supply can only deliver that as a brief peak rather than continuously, voltage sags on every syllable.

Linear or switching

This used to be a real argument and is now mostly settled, with one caveat that matters for HF.

• Switching supplies are light, efficient, cheap and cool. They are the default and almost everyone should buy one.
• The caveat: a switching supply generates RF hash, and a poor one will raise your receive noise floor across HF. A well designed one is quiet. This is where brand reputation genuinely earns its premium.
• Linear supplies are heavy, warm and inherently quiet. If you already own one and it is big enough, keep it.
• If a switching supply is audibly noisy on receive, that is a fault in your station rather than something to live with. Ferrite on the DC leads helps; a better supply helps more.
• Never run a radio from a computer ATX supply. The voltage is wrong and the regulation under an intermittent load is not designed for this.

Three tiers

Three supplies

By what the station actually draws.

Budget 30 A $129.99

A first HF station on a tight budget

TekPower

TekPower TP30SWII 30 A switching power supply

A 30 A switching supply with an analogue meter and adjustable voltage at a noticeably lower price than the premium brands. It has the current a 100 W radio needs, which is the specification that matters most.

• Current 30 A
• Outputs Terminals

Tradeoff
Screw terminals rather than Powerpoles, so budget an hour and some connectors. Switching noise is more variable at this price point than with a premium supply.

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The default $164.17

Almost any 100 W HF station

Powerwerx

Powerwerx SS-30DV desktop power supply

Enough current for a 100 W radio with real headroom, a quiet reputation on HF receive, and Powerpole outputs so the whole station can standardise on one connector.

• Current 30 A
• Outputs Powerpole

Tradeoff
Costs meaningfully more than the budget option for the same headline current figure. What you are buying is the noise performance and the connectors.

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Small and portable $50.85

Charging handhelds, powering a small QRP rig or a shack accessory bus

Powerwerx

Powerwerx PD-5F fused distribution block

A compact 5 A supply that does not take a desk over. The right answer when what you actually need is to charge radios and run low-draw accessories rather than transmit at 100 W.

• Current 5 A
• Size Compact

Tradeoff
Nowhere near enough for a 100 W radio. Do not try; it will sag badly.

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The wiring between supply and radio

A correctly sized supply feeding a radio through undersized DC wire behaves exactly like an undersized supply. The voltage drop happens in the cable instead of the supply, and the symptom is identical.

• Use the gauge the wire gauge and current chart specifies for your current and run length, and treat the total loop length as twice the distance.
• Keep the DC run short. A radio on the desk two feet from its supply has no excuse for a voltage drop.
• Fuse both conductors close to the supply. Most radios fuse the positive lead only, which is not enough in a vehicle installation.
• Powerpole connectors are the de facto amateur standard for a reason: they are polarity safe, genuinely rated for the current, and every other operator uses them.