What Are the Benefits of Auto-Ranging DC Power Supplies?
It is essential for businesses developing and testing electronic devices and systems to use programmable DC power supplies. More often than not, it’s imperative for functional testing to subject the device-under-test (DUT) to an array of conditions it may encounter during operation.
In some cases, the DUT may draw constant power under different input conditions—this happens mostly in DC motor drives and regulated DC/DC supplies. For these scenarios, it’s incredibly valuable for the programmable DC source to provide an increased current at a reduced output voltage.
The ability for a programmable DC source to do this is called “auto-ranging.” Any DC power supply that does not offer auto-ranging will likely require you to oversize or use multiple supplies to test the DUT under various conditions. Doing so can consume large amounts of capital and physical space.
Using an auto-ranging power supply, however, means the source with automatically provide increased current at lower voltages. This will make your testing more flexible and will allow you to use only one supply to create numerous voltage and current combinations.
