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Heads Up - Bargain power tank at Maplins

Hermit

By Hermit
in The Astro Lounge

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Hermit

Hermit

Posted
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http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=383992

Well, it's advertised as a jump starert but its also a 9 amp hour power tank. Currently £29.99. Bargain. Much cheaper than the Skywatch 7ah power tank.

I had the Maplin one last year and powered my Synscan Alt-az go mount for several hours in one session. Just ordered another one as my original went missing in the house move in February.

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stevend

stevend

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For what it's worth I bought one of these last week for more or less the same money:

http://bit.ly/172ehhk

Granted, the build quality is a little flimsy, but I was pleasantly surprised to find an 18Ah battery inside it.

Excuse me maybe asking a stupid question but does this jump starter come with cigar lighter plug built in ? ie I already have a cable (with cigar lighter plug) for my Nexstar which I connect to the mains via an adaptor, but I would like more flexibility.

Thanks

Steven

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Andrew*

Andrew*

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Excuse me maybe asking a stupid question but does this jump starter come with cigar lighter plug built in ? ie I already have a cable (with cigar lighter plug) for my Nexstar which I connect to the mains via an adaptor, but I would like more flexibility.

I saw a post in a thread recently "There's no such thing as a stupid question on SGL". :)

The powertanks usually have a cigarette lighter SOCKET, but no cable. You will need a power cable with the right fitting for your nexstar and a cigarette lighter plug, such as this: http://www.firstlightoptics.com/power/skytron-power-supply-cable-for-skywatcher-celestron-mounts.html

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stevend

stevend

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I saw a post in a thread recently "There's no such thing as a stupid question on SGL". :)

The powertanks usually have a cigarette lighter SOCKET, but no cable. You will need a power cable with the right fitting for your nexstar and a cigarette lighter plug, such as this: http://www.firstligh...ron-mounts.html

I meant socket. :smiley: I have the right cable. Thanks.
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DeepThought

DeepThought

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Excuse me maybe asking a stupid question but does this jump starter come with cigar lighter plug built in ? ie I already have a cable (with cigar lighter plug) for my Nexstar which I connect to the mains via an adaptor, but I would like more flexibility.

Thanks

Steven

That's far from a stupid question, I went to great lengths to answer the same question myself before purchasing.

Yes it does have a cigarette lighter socket, but only one, once winter sets in I'm probably going to need to add a dew heater so at some point I'm going to have to buy a splitter for it.

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jonathan

jonathan

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I'd say for that price you'd be better off getting a car battery and a pair of crocodile clips...

http://www.tayna.co....tery-P8891.html

5x the capacity and only a couple of quid more! Years back Maplin regularly sold 17Ah versions of the jumpstarter for £20, which was a good deal, but I haven't seen that since.

Leisure batteries don't cost much more, or even the same price, get a small one with 9Ah and you're set for 4 hours at 2amp draw (mount + dew heater), should be a really light battery too. I think I made a mistake in going for a big leisure battery, it's just too big and heavy and I'm never out all night; I might just look for a smaller one with a handle. I use mine with a pair of croc battery clips with a lighter socket on the end (includes an in-line fuse), as my dew heater controller also has four aux outputs I can power my mount through it so only need the one socket.

KISS - Keep it simple, stupid.

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jonathan

jonathan

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PS.. The 5-in-1 orange Maplins car starter that I bought came with a cable which fits my NEQ6, but it's too short to use. The SkyTron cable is very good for use with Skywatcher mounts but I had trouble with the Nexstar socket being too loose (I replaced it with BNC).

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Scott

Scott

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Leisure batteries don't cost much more, or even the same price, get a small one with 9Ah and you're set for 4 hours at 2amp draw (mount + dew heater), should be a really light battery too. I think I made a mistake in going for a big leisure battery, it's just too big and heavy and I'm never out all night; I might just look for a smaller one with a handle. I use mine with a pair of croc battery clips with a lighter socket on the end (includes an in-line fuse), as my dew heater controller also has four aux outputs I can power my mount through it so only need the one socket.

KISS - Keep it simple, stupid.

I'm really not sure it's a good idea to run any battery down to 10% charge. I get your point though, if you DEFINATELY know you'll only ever use 8 Amps a night then there's no need to get anything bigger than 16 Ah. I definately no i'll be using more and more gismos so I'll be going for the 110Ah leisure battery. They're not that heavy and they're somewhat future proof :).
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Andrew*

Andrew*

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I find my 75Ah battery very heavy. I can't really carry it single handedly for more than a few metres.

But if you can handle/afford it, definitely a good idea to get one more than twice as big as you intend to use for the longest you intend to use it (e.g. a weekend away without charge). For example, say you buy a 12V hairdryer or an extra dew heater to keep eyepieces dry on dewy nights. That will draw quite a bit extra.

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oymd

oymd

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http://mobile.maplin...moduleno=383992

Well, it's advertised as a jump starert but its also a 9 amp hour power tank. Currently £29.99. Bargain. Much cheaper than the Skywatch 7ah power tank.

I had the Maplin one last year and powered my Synscan Alt-az go mount for several hours in one session. Just ordered another one as my original went missing in the house move in February.

thanks...nice find...

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twelly27

twelly27

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Posted

hi all

i have a HEQ5pro and i need a power source that doesnt need to be plugged into the mains, only for charging, im going to astro camp on the 7th september thats what i need it for. i will also need to be able to use my laptop through the day and maybe night if the chance comes up for webcam planets, can anyone chip in with a leisure battery and charger? ill need somthing that can give me maybe 5-6 hours use with my mount for imaging. im really stuck i posted a couple of threads about this and still havent got anywhere can anyone please help?

Thanks

Chris

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DeepThought

DeepThought

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Posted
hi all

i have a HEQ5pro and i need a power source that doesnt need to be plugged into the mains, only for charging, im going to astro camp on the 7th september thats what i need it for. i will also need to be able to use my laptop through the day and maybe night if the chance comes up for webcam planets, can anyone chip in with a leisure battery and charger? ill need somthing that can give me maybe 5-6 hours use with my mount for imaging. im really stuck i posted a couple of threads about this and still havent got anywhere can anyone please help?

Thanks

Chris

As with everything, what's your budget?

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