CA-PSU
CA-PSU stands for "Compact Amiga Power Supply Unit", where "compact" designates the three target computers A500, A600 and A1200. It is the first power supply on the market that fully complies with the original Commodore specifications, introducing cable drop compensation for best regulation that even settles the voltage drop in the input filter of the target computers. This means that the voltage on the main 5V rail will never deviate more then 0.9%, measured inside the computer - no matter if the computer is in vanilla configuration or heavily expanded. Conventional power supplies will either supply too-high voltage to a vanilla machine, or too-low voltage to an expanded machine, causing malfunction or even defects. This cannot happen with our cable drop compensation technology.
Technical data in short:
- 5V, 5A, ripple/noise 50mV max. (typically 30mV)
- Overload on 5V tolerated up to 8A for 30 seconds
- 5V load regulation <0.6% typical, max. 0.9% under overload condition
- 12V up to 4A
- -12V, 0.1A
- modern, high-efficiency DC-DC converter technology
- total output power up to 50W (60W for the 2024 version)
- fanless, silent, extremely low heat
CA-PSU is a two-brick solution: One mains-connected power brick and the CA-PSU converter box with the switch and square 5-pin DIN connector to the computer. This moves the power switch a lot closer to the computer, reducing the probability of inadvertent switching, for example if the power supply is under the table near your feet.
CA-PSU has the best overall efficiency on the market, with a worst-case efficiency of 77% (best case >82.5%). The best competing product peaks at just over 70%, and some original Commodore power supplies have an efficiency of less than 55%. This means that there's less total heat, less power consumption and a longer life expectancy because there is less stress on the components.
Naturally, CA-PSU features over-voltage protection - every modern power supply does. We wouldn't consider it worth mentioning, but this protection is part of a more complex block to protect your valuable classic gear: There are two critical moments that need to be taken care of: Switching on and off. CA-PSU has a controlled 5V ramp-up when switching on, ensuring safe power-up of heavily-expanded machines. Traditional power supplies without such a controlled startup-ramp tend to "swing in" to the target voltage, which might cause malfunction (a reset after power cycle may be required) or even defects. Further, switching off will start a short timer, ensuring that the next switch-on event can't happen until about 6 seconds after switching off. This ensures that capacitors in the computer and expansion gear are sufficiently discharged, and switching on won't cause 3.3V regulators of modern expansions to oscillate, which may cause severe damage.
Links
- Powersupply FAQ
- https://forum.icomp.de/index.php?thread/1042-material-from-revision-2020-seminar-designing-a-better-amiga-psu/
Shop
- Individual Computers' Shop (selected Products)
