I'm curious if you still have the rfi issues with the switcher. it would be interesting. the astron supply actually has chassis ground ac ground and the negative terminal all common ground and I suspect the switcher might not. you could have a ground loop even without a ground connection on the astron.
73 kb7nla
On Mar 7, 2011, at 3:13 PM, tom behler wrote:

> Hi, folks.
> 
> Well, I know everyone is waiting with bated breath and eager anticipation 
> regarding the situation with my Astron RS35 power supply, and the need to 
> re-establish the ground connection to the unit that was loosened  by me last 
> week.
> 
> First the good news:
> 
> I opened up the supply, and survived an extensive and very interesting 
> exploration of the unit's inner components.  No shocks;  no tingles;  and no 
> unpleasantries.
> 
> Now, the not-so-good news:
> 
> In trying to re-tighten the ground connection on the bottom left-hand part 
> of the supply last week-end, I did manage to pop the wire out of the 
> terminal that is fastened onto the internal philips screw part of the ground 
> lug.  The wire is just hanging there, waiting to be re-connected.
> 
> I asked the XYL to do a visual inspection of the situation, and she 
> indicated that, although the wire is black in color, it clearly looks like 
> it should go right back on the empty ground lug terminal.  It is the only 
> loose wire we see anywhere.
> 
> I am a bit confused as to why a ground wire would be black in color, but 
> that seems to be what the manufacturer decided to do.  I also still can't 
> believe that the manufacturer made the ground connection the way they did.
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions as to how best to put the ground connection 
> back together?  My current thinking is to have a sighted ham friend come 
> over here and re-solder the connection for me.  It's quite hard to get to, 
> since it is buried underneath a whole bunch of other wires and components, 
> and I simply don't want to create more problems than I already have.
> 
> In the meantime, I will still be able to remain on the air.  I have a Samlex 
> switching supply that I use for HF work when camping in the RV during the 
> summer time, and I have put it into service until the Astron repairs are 
> made.
> 
> Thanks again for everyone's patience through all of this, and for putting up 
> with my inordinate amount of caution about sticking my hands in there to 
> diagnose the problem.
> 
> 73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ