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Power Tank build complete

Gaze Away

By Gaze Away
in DIY Astronomer

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

Posted
Posted

Hi all, I have just finished the build of my power tank.

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You can find pictures, the making, costings and wiring diagrams on my other thread.

http://stargazerslou...ank-build-help/

Hope this helpssome of you. Feels nice to give something back,

A BIG THANKS TO ALL THAT HELPED ME ACHIEVE THIS BUILD......HUGE THANKS TO MY MATE BOOTS (electrical engineer) and he has said that if anyone needs some electrical advice, contact me and he will be happy to answer your questions.....

Regards and wishing you all clear skies.

Andy

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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how many devices can you run off that, any idea what length of time you would get.maybe no ones replied as it maybe in posted in wrong section

nice job

Thanks, its 110 amp hours so it should run alot for a long time. When the clouds go in, I will let everyone know.

What section maybe should I have put it in, Thanks

Andy

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dreamofsirius

dreamofsirius

Posted
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it may have been better in diy astronomer but give it a while,just ignore that im usually wrong according to the wife lol

by the way seeming you are pretty good with electrics if i were to chop a usb cable and extend it would i get a power drop at 7 metres

cheers

jeff

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

Posted
  • Author
Posted

it may have been better in diy astronomer but give it a while,just ignore that im usually wrong according to the wife lol

by the way seeming you are pretty good with electrics if i were to chop a usb cable and extend it would i get a power drop at 7 metres

cheers

jeff

Hi Jeff. boots is going to answer this for you .....watch this space ( boots being my electrical engineer mate)
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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

Posted
  • Author
Posted

it may have been better in diy astronomer but give it a while,just ignore that im usually wrong according to the wife lol

by the way seeming you are pretty good with electrics if i were to chop a usb cable and extend it would i get a power drop at 7 metres

cheers

jeff

Hi Jeff,

I'm going to need more detail about the connection you wish to make in order to answer your question accurately.

You will get a 'power' drop over a long cable but this can be mitigated by the use of thicker cable.

Much more importantly though, USB signals will not successfully transceive data over cables longer than 5 metres in length. (And even that is a stretch.)

The causes of the length restriction are signal reflections, characteristic impedance, allowable delay times and other such fun paraphernalia!

If you want to use the USB port to provide power ONLY, the length restriction doesn't apply - you'll just need to use some chunky cable to prevent too much voltage drop.

If the power only solution is what you need, let me know the maximum current you expect the cable to carry and I will demonstrate how to calculate the cable thickness you need.

If you need to get a full USB data connection across 7 metres, there are a few options but the following is probably the simplest:

Use some USB to Ethernet adaptors - Eg: http://www.maplin.co...-booster-221290 - these convert the USB signals to Ethernet signals at the beginning of the cable run and and then back to USB at the remote end. They are good for up to 50m. Note, however, that you won't get full USB2.0 hi-speed operation over the link with these adaptors. For the cable run between the adaptors you would use Cat5 cable - Eg: http://www.play.com/...416|prd:3516416. This cable is available in pre-terminated lengths from all sorts of shops like PC World and Maplin. (The one in the example link is £2.04!)

As I said up top, if you can detail exactly what you want to do, I can almost certainly spec up suitable hardware to achieve it.

There are very few data/power coupling challenges that can't be solved by a bit of outside the box thinking and a good dash of electronics theory.

Cheers,

Boots.

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glowjet

glowjet

Posted
Posted

Andy, very nice to see the finished job, that really is some power house and you should be proud of your achievements, do me a favour though, I would paint those pieces of wood black, don`t you think it might just finish it off, as they are bound to become grubby after some time. I note it is a 110 Ah leisure battery, be careful when carting it about, I know they are sealed, but there should be a breather port, I sometimes got a little spillage of acid if the battery had been jolted about to much, so I made a rubber cap to fit the hole for use while in transit. Just a thought :)

John.

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faulksy

faulksy

Posted
Posted

it may have been better in diy astronomer but give it a while,just ignore that im usually wrong according to the wife lol

by the way seeming you are pretty good with electrics if i were to chop a usb cable and extend it would i get a power drop at 7 metres

cheers

jeff

5 meteres is max with a std cable or you could add a booster
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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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Andy, very nice to see the finished job, that really is some power house and you should be proud of your achievements, do me a favour though, I would paint those pieces of wood black, don`t you think it might just finish it off, as they are bound to become grubby after some time. I note it is a 110 Ah leisure battery, be careful when carting it about, I know they are sealed, but there should be a breather port, I sometimes got a little spillage of acid if the battery had been jolted about to much, so I made a rubber cap to fit the hole for use while in transit. Just a thought :)

John.

There is a little hole John, thanks for that, sounds like a good plan :grin: . As for the wooden bits, I have got to paint them black and I am also going to put some nice black felt on the box inside that my stuff will be stored in...Once again thanks for that tip on the acid spillage

Andy

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dreamofsirius

dreamofsirius

Posted
Posted

Hi Jeff,

I'm going to need more detail about the connection you wish to make in order to answer your question accurately.

You will get a 'power' drop over a long cable but this can be mitigated by the use of thicker cable.

Much more importantly though, USB signals will not successfully transceive data over cables longer than 5 metres in length. (And even that is a stretch.)

The causes of the length restriction are signal reflections, characteristic impedance, allowable delay times and other such fun paraphernalia!

If you want to use the USB port to provide power ONLY, the length restriction doesn't apply - you'll just need to use some chunky cable to prevent too much voltage drop.

If the power only solution is what you need, let me know the maximum current you expect the cable to carry and I will demonstrate how to calculate the cable thickness you need.

If you need to get a full USB data connection across 7 metres, there are a few options but the following is probably the simplest:

Use some USB to Ethernet adaptors - Eg: http://www.maplin.co...-booster-221290 - these convert the USB signals to Ethernet signals at the beginning of the cable run and and then back to USB at the remote end. They are good for up to 50m. Note, however, that you won't get full USB2.0 hi-speed operation over the link with these adaptors. For the cable run between the adaptors you would use Cat5 cable - Eg: http://www.play.com/...416|prd:3516416. This cable is available in pre-terminated lengths from all sorts of shops like PC World and Maplin. (The one in the example link is £2.04!)

As I said up top, if you can detail exactly what you want to do, I can almost certainly spec up suitable hardware to achieve it.

There are very few data/power coupling challenges that can't be solved by a bit of outside the box thinking and a good dash of electronics theory.

Cheers,

Boots.

thankyou i was thinking of chopping the usb for the canon eos 1100d as its only 1 metre long not at this moment though when i get to the new house.

thanks again.

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Gaze Away

Gaze Away

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thankyou i was thinking of chopping the usb for the canon eos 1100d as its only 1 metre long not at this moment though when i get to the new house.

thanks again.

Hi Jeff,

Ahh, I see.

Having done a bit more research, the following will do what you want, I believe: http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B002MMO5EQ.

You will also need one of these - http://www.amazon.co...2472996&sr=1-3. - to adapt the standard USB lead to the mini USB on the camera.

Total cost, £11.66.

This solution should achieve an acceptable data transfer rate.

Hope this has been helpful,

Boots.

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