AstroPig 140 - heavy-duty power box project

[antimorris]

A while back I asked some questions about a home-built astronomy power box I was planning on building and basically got "why the heck would you do that?" "just bring several small ones!" or "get a generator" responses. Well, that wasn't the plan and not what I wanted, so I proceeded with my plan.

Between overseas moves, two telescopes, dew heaters, CCD, auto guider, and laptop my power tanks which wouldn't hold a full charge just weren't cutting it (I had several small ones and with the moves they would drain and then not hold a charge and I would have to replace them - it was silly and getting expensive)

I finally completed my project and did a full write-up of the requirements, math, and build including photos. If you are interested in reading it (its an 11 page pdf) it is located here: http://www.eprisephoto.com/power-box-project.pdf.

All in all I had a fun time with the build and now very happy with my power box and can go all night running everything (and depending on how much I have the dew heaters cranked up can even go a whole weekend without having to charge) thanks to a 140Ah deep cycle battery. I have plenty of extra USB ports, an extra (or two) 12V cigarette lighter sockets, and an inverter with two 120V sockets if I REALLY need them (although 95% of the time I don't expect the inverter to even be turn on).

No more having to use 2-3 power tanks in a night and wasting power by running half of the gear off of the mains on an industrial inverter when at home due to a lack of cigarette lighter outlets and STILL only getting 3/4 of a night in before all my power is dead (except the mains of course).

No more having to buy a new power tank after every move due to them having sat for months in transit and being completely dead and not wanting to charge or hold a charge afterwards. When the battery does eventually go out on me all I have to do is get a new battery, not a whole new power solution - much cheaper in the long run.

I also have extra room in the box if I want to add additional sockets later on or what-not.

Basically, I am doing my power box happy dance now and have gotten to roll out my new Borg-like kit under some clear skies a few times and it works fantastically. Well worth the time and effort to design and build it!

I was told it looks like a little pig, so I called it the "AstroPig 140".

[Andymac79]

Haha, that is awwwwsome

Andy

[Veracocha]

Great stuff. I love projects like this. Well done that woman.