Palstar PM5K VSWR / Power Meter
I have been given a Palstar PM5K VSWR / Power Meter which I was kind of hoping was going to be working and ready for use, but sadly this seems to be not the case, and although it looks to be fresh out of a box, it could take me a while to work out what will be wrong with this, mainly because I cannot get hold of a schematic diagram.
It came to me looking mint, with the instructions, and with no sign of use, even a very mint looking instructions along with a Palstar Catalogue showing off all the other equipment they make, now on that subject we have a slight problem…
I will get more into the issue that I have a bit later, but I tried to apply voltage to the unit via a 5.5mm x 2.1mm DC Jack Plug, in fact because I could not get it to light up I tried about 4 different leads, checking that the polarity was correct each time and that the voltage at the plug was around 12.8v, but every plug that I tried did not help the unit light up.
Well, taking a look at the inside of the Palstar PM5K shows something that I did not expect, but it looks as though this was made by Array Solutions for Palstar, but this makes the unit very similar to the PowerMaster by Array Solutions.
Before I get into the obvious problem, I have a better look at all of the other parts to see if there was anything obvious regarding burn marks or breaks in components, but nothing was seen, that said the display is a ‘Newhaven’ display which should mean that getting hold of a spare/replacement should be an easy task.
I fired off a quick e-mail to Array Solutions, but they were not exactly helpful in that they said that I might be able to find documentation on their website. And as for Palstar, well nothing, but I am finding this very normal these days, I think the support side of Palstar has become basically useless, in the past as well I have tried to contact Palstar, and they do not reply, this seems to happen a lot these day, you either get a company that cares about their products and will go well above what you as the customer feels is totally brilliant, and then you get other companies that make great products but sadly offer zero or basic support.
All that I am after is a Schematic Diagram to help me diagnose the problem, with it I could trace the volts without having to remove everything from the case, which at the moment I do not really want to do, mainly because I have about 10 other restorations / Repairs that are ongoing, and I try not to go about 10 as things can easily get misplaced or lost, mainly down to the cats and not my head.
I am now waiting to hear back from Array Solutions with a small hope that a Schematic will be forthcoming.
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Last Updated : 11th February 2024
