Power Supply

I realized that I'd need a good power supply right around the time I bought the function generator (and realized that I didn't have the 15V wall wart to power it). My requirements were:

• Variable output
• Visible indication (preferably digital) of voltage and current
• Short-circuit protection

I ended up getting the Extech 382200 30V/1A power supply. I'm very happy with it. I specifically chose it over the Extech 382202 18V/3A power supply because I figure I'm much more likely to hit 18V than I am 1A. Time will tell, though I've certainly gotten pretty close to 18V with the need to provide 15V to the Nuxie function generator. Of course, now that I have a single-output power supply, multi-output power supplies are starting to catch my attention. The saving grace is that I'm very space-constrained, and barely have enough room for the one I bought.

Why am I happy with it? It's simple, it does what it's supposed to do, the adjustments aren't too twitchy, and oh my goodness is it nice to have in-line current measurement. It beats what I was doing before, when power came from a wall wart. Then, I'd occasionally put the VOM in-line, but more frequently would just hope. It's also nice to have clean power, versus whatever my wall wart was putting out. Oh, and did I mention that it handles short circuits gracefully (or claims to)?