Different ways of powering a scope setup?

[Monki]

I just had a weird idea, has anyone thought of using a UPS for their power? My current lead is a random 12v 2amp adapter i found rumaging around a box of old cables....i have access to looooads of old pc junk hehe.

I don't doubt a UPS would work if i could find an old one lying around somewhere...just wondered if anyone else had done this?

Apart from car batteries and powertanks, what other ways have you guys thought of trying to power your setups?

Sent from a Galaxy S 2 far away.

[Gina]

Only trouble with an UPS is that they aren't designed to run for very long without mains power, only to provide power while power critical systems are shut down. Don't think of running for 8 hours to power your mount and other gear. I have a 1200VA one which will power my desktop PC, monitor and router etc. for less than an hour.

A car battery jump starter would be a better bet - many people use those and they're relatively cheap.

[Monki]

Cheers, i thought the short run time would probly come into play. I just thought maybe with the scope only needing 2a it would be ok....nevermind it was only an idea hehe.

Think ill have to bite the bullett and just get a powertank

Sent from a Galaxy S 2 far away.

[Carbon Brush]

With a UPS, there is a lot of voltage conversion with losses at each stage.

Start at 12V DC, convert to 240V AC in the UPS. Perhaps 50% to 70% efficiency.

Then convert 240V AC to 12V DC in a power supply for mount. Similar 50/70% efficiency.

Alternatively. Remove 12V battery from UPS. Connect 12V battery to mount. No losses.

[iwatkins]

Solar panels. You know it makes sense.

Seriously though, if you have an obs but no mains power, could you use a few big car/leisure batteries and some solar panels to charge them during the day? I don't know enough about solar panels to decide if that is feasible.

Cheers

Ian

[Gina]

Probably alright with a big enough solar panel but they get very expensive in the larger sizes.

[Monki]

That's a nice explanation DavidValentine, thanks for that!

I've put off getting a cheapish 3 in 1 from maplin mainly because of the reviews about the batterys being 50/50 good or bad.

Hehe i would love to use solar panels if i could afford them..

Sent from a Galaxy S 2 far away.