MCS Test Equipment Ltd are the UK distributors for Willtek, Tescom, Schomandl and Litepoint. We offer a wide range of leading edge test equipment products to meet the testing requirements of most wireless and Broadcast standards such as GSM, WCDMA, TETRA, WLAN 802.11, Bluetooth and WiMax 802.16. As well as offering test equipment sales, MCS also has a wide range of rental test equipment and used test equipment available.We provide high quality used test equipment for sale or rental and tailor our services to meet your individual needs.
A power supply (sometimes known as a power supply unit or PSU) is a device or system that supplies electrical or other types of energy to an output load or group of loads. The term is most commonly applied to electrical energy supplies.
General description
The complete range of power supplies is very broad, and could be considered to include all forms of energy conversion from one form into another. Conventionally though, the term is usually confined to electrical or mechanical energy supplies. Constraints that commonly affect power supplies are the amount of power they can supply, how long they can supply it for without needing some kind of refueling or recharging, how stable their output voltage or current is under varying load conditions, and whether they provide continuous power or pulses.
The regulation of power supplies is done by incorporating circuitry to tightly control the output voltage and/or current of the power supply to a specific value. The specific value is closely maintained despite variations in the load presented to the power supply's output, or any reasonable voltage variation at the power supply's input. This kind of regulation is commonly categorised as a Stabilized power supply.
Electrical power supplies
This term covers the mains power distribution system together with any other primary or secondary sources of energy such as:
Conversion of one form of electrical power to another desired form and voltage. This typically involves converting 120 or 240 volt AC supplied by a utility company (see electricity generation) to a well-regulated lower voltage DC for electronic devices. For examples, see switched-mode power supply, linear regulator, rectifier and inverter (electrical).
Computer power supply
A computer power supply typically is designed to convert 110 V or 230 V AC power from the mains to usable low-voltage DC power for the internal components of the computer. The most common computer power supplies are built to conform with the ATX form factor.
Domestic mains adaptors
A linear or switchmode power supply (or in some cases just a transformer) that is built into the top of a plug is known as a "wall wart'", "power brick", "plug-in adapter" "AC adaptor" or just "power adapter". Because they consume Standby power, they are sometimes known as "electricity vampires".
This type of power supply is popular among manufacturers of low cost electrical items because
Linear power supply
A simple AC powered linear power supply usually uses a transformer to convert the voltage from the wall outlet (mains) to a different, usually a lower voltage. If it is used to produce DC a rectifier circuit is employed either as a single chip, an array of diodes sometimes called a diode bridge or Bridge Rectifier, both for fullwave rectification or a single diode yielding a half wave (pulsating) output. More elaborate configurations rectify the AC voltage at first to pulsating DC. Then a capacitor smooths out part of the pulses giving a type of DC voltage. The smaller pulses remaining are known as ripple. Because of a fullwave rectification they occur at twice the mains frequency (in USA then at 120 Hz). Finally, depending on the requirements of the load, a linear regulator may be used to reduce the ripple sometimes also allowing for adjustment of the output to the desired but a lower voltage. More elaborate versions used by circuit designers are adjustable up to 30 volts and up to 5 amperes output. These often employ current limiting. Some can be driven by an external signal, for example, for applications requiring a pulsed output.
In the simplest case a single diode is connected directly to the mains and uses a resistor in series with a more or less fixed load to recharge a battery. This circuit is common in rechargeable flashlights.
Power conversion
The term "power supply" is sometimes restricted to those devices that convert some other form of energy into electricity (such as solar power and fuel cells and generators). A more accurate term for devices that convert one form of electric power into another form of electric power (such as transformers and linear regulators) is power converter.
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We have over 2,000 pieces of new and used test equipment to choose from. If we haven’t got it in stock, we’ll try our very best to source it for you.
Should you wish to look at our test equipment sales or rental services, we will be pleased to help. Our test equipment rates are competitive with the best suppliers in the UK.
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Test Equipment Products
We are constantly updating our database of test equipment products, click on any of the following manufacturers to browse our latest items:
Acterna/JDSU, Adret, Advantest, Agilent - HP, AH Systems, Amplifier Research, Ando, Anritsu, AOIP, Audio Precision, Austrian Research, Bird, BMI, Boonton, Bruel & Kjaer, California Instruments, CEM, Chauvin Arnoux, Chroma, Climats, Convergie, Divers, Dranetz, Druck, EA, Efratom, EIN, EIP, ELC, Elgar, EM Test, EMCO, Enertec, Exfo, Flir, Fluke, FUG, Fujikura, Furukawa, GE Programma, Gigatronics, GMC, Goerz, Gould Nicolet, Hameg, Hioki, IFR-Aeroflex, Instek, Intec, Itech, Itronix, Kalmus, Keithley, Kepco, Kikusui, Kimo, Kyoritsu, Lambda, LECroy, LEM, Litepoint, Marconi, Mastech, MCP, Metrix, Microlab, Microtest, Milmega, Multimetrix, Narda, NetTest, Niton, Noisecom, Ophir, Panasonic, Philips, PMM, Powerbox, Prolabo, Promax, Protek, Racal, Raytek, Rigol, Rohde & Schwarz, Rotronic, Sample Instruments, Schaffner, Schlumberger, Schomandl, Secasi, Sefelec, Sefram, Solartron, Sony, Sorenson, Spinner, Stanford Research, Sunrise telecom, Svantek, Systron Donner, Tabor, Teac, Tegam, Tektronix, Tescom, Testo, Thomson, Toellner, Trend , TRT, TTI, USB Instruments, Varian, Veriwave, Voltech, Voltsch, Votsch, W/G Acterna, Wavetek, Western Graphtec, Willtek, Xantrex, Yokogawa,
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