Power Supply Design -- Fresh start need ideas opinions and things that you would want.

[Eric1180]

Hi on Wednesday i am meeting up with my mentor at SWRI (South West Research Institute) and he will be helping me design 2 or 3  HVPS. My mentor is the head manager for the space division.  They design HVPS for satellites. 

I have become a professional satellite toucher. 

I want to design a HVPS for nixies, VFD, and Dekatrons and then make those available to people like you guys. :D

So if you where ordering a hamburger that was actually a HVPS... what would you like?

I like the taylor stye power supply because of its vertical mounting, i have one of those and its a great space saver.

So i am probably going to make a vertical design. 

Physical shape/size

• vertical

My mentor talked about a programable PS, that works serially... what do you guys think about that.

How to set the voltage

• serially 
• with a external  resistor
• pot... not the drug

What kind of ranges would you like?

• mA 
  
• Vout:  Vmin - Vmax
  
• Vin:    

Thanks guys .. i hope to eventually get what i design out on to the market.

Also for the VFD one i will try to get in addition a out out of 1v for the anode wire.

[jb-electronics]

Hi,

honestly, I think it will be hard to beat the existing designs, but hey,
give it a try :-)

I think it would be nice if the output voltage could be controlled by an
analog voltage, i.e. 0..5V respective to Vmin..Vmax. This way, you could
hook it up to a trim pot *or* a controller with no extra hassle.

Regards,
Jens

[John Rehwinkel]

> How to set the voltage
> • serially
> • with a external resistor
> • pot... not the drug

An external resistor or a pot are essentially the same thing from the perspective of the power supply.

>
> What kind of ranges would you like?
> • mA
> • Vout: Vmin - Vmax
> • Vin:
> Thanks guys .. i hope to eventually get what i design out on to the market.
> Also for the VFD one i will try to get in addition a out out of 1v for the anode wire.

For the VFD one, a center-tapped (and biased) AC filament drive would be nice. Ideally with variable frequency or at least a choice of two in the case of beating between the mux frequency and the filament drive.

It might be nice to offer positive and negative versions - sometimes it's easier to keep the VFD cathode at a negative potential and pull the grids and anodes "up" to ground.

- John KG4L

[Eric1180]

Thanks any think else? there hast to be more! I am gathering references for what i am making. So any is there anything i need to include  like over current shutdown, i think it's called? I am writing a proposal so fancy big words and technical specifications. 

Also i have only seen one... hmm yeah one power supply for a dekatron and zero for VFD so i still think there is a market.

This is also a learning experience for me, i am thinking about becoming a electrical engineer. 

I realize a resistor and a pot are basically the same thing, when i said "or a pot" i ment a surface mount pot on the pcb board vs a external resistor.