While some people or organizations with lots of boards may use high-end USB hubs to power and control them, most people likely use wall adapters to power their development boards like Raspberry Pi 3, ASUS Tinkerboard, Orange Pi PC, and so on.
At least that’s what I do, except in some cases when I suspect power issues, and I go with a more powerful SMPS (switch mode power supply). I don’t use it often because it’s a large brick and expose 220V. But the other day, as I attended Chiang Mai Maker Party, I found one maker uses some tiny (and cute) power supply from a company called Mean Well to power his Raspberry Pi boards.
The model used above with RS-15-5 with takes 100-240VAC 0.35A input, and output 5VDC up to 3A. The power supply include AC Neutral, AC Live, Ground, DC V+ and DC V- pins where you can insert the wires/cables and fastened them with a screw. You’ll find the complete specifications here. Unless you can put the power supply into an enclosure, this type of power supply may not be recommended if you have young kids running around, in case they fiddle with the mains connections.
The company meant well… when they designed the nomenclature of their power supplies, as the first number stands for the wattage, and the second for voltage. So for example, if you want a 25W power supply with 5V output, you ‘ll find RS-25-5 model. In the datasheet linked above, they have 15W power supplies from 3.3V to 48V.
RS-15-5 power supply pictured above can be purchased for $8 on Amazon US, and plenty of sellers offer it on Aliexpress or eBay. More models can be found on their website.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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