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Alveprinsen

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Alveprinsen

Alveprinsen

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So, my equipment just shut down on me mostly because lack of juice. Now, I am running my NEQ6 Pro mount off a 7Ah Skywatcher Powertank. It died on me after approx. 6,5 hours.

I run my tiny mini-laptop and Nikon D3100 DSLR off a 19Ah battery, through a inverter. After only 4 hours the battery was so low, its voltage was no longer sufficient to run either laptop nor camera. Led indicator on the inverter had changed from green to yellow.

I also run my two Astrozap heater tapes off a 17Ah Celestron powertank. Those never drain the battery though... Always green light...

My question is: how do most of you power your gear? Using portable power, or power from a nearby power outlet?

If you use portable power - how do you manage those long 9 - 12 hour sessions?

Sincerely, Alveprinsen.

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Merlin66

Merlin66

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I keep telling people to give up on those sexy battery packs and invest in a couple of 20Ah gel cell batteries and a triple stage charger.

I have three of these 20Ah gel cells which are just as good as they were new, and they are now seven years old.......

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brantuk

brantuk

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I still use my Celestron Power Tank - but the 17ah battery died within six months. I replaced it with a gel type 20ah wheelchair battery and it's still going strong after 4yrs. But I only use it to drive the mount - for dew heaters I use another battery in the field when there's no power supply (or ehu and transformer if I'm on a camp site). I only use the pc if I've got hookup to a local supply - can't be bothered with inverters and extra batteries so I only do observing when there's no supply. Hth :)

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ronin

ronin

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The other option is basically construct your own from what is a car lead acid battery,. Not sure if a Gel battery is equally available as they are a bit better since they are Gel not liquid in them. Just the cost could be more.

The power suplies you mention both were fine, they just ran out,. An EQ6 is rated at around 1 amp and you used it for the time specified on the power pack, similar for the one powering the laptop and camera, the inverter will take a proportion as well.

Recall reading that is the inverter will take about 10% of the rated load, so if rated at 100W then 10 Watt will be taken by the inverter, so that supply was powering Camera, Laptop and Inverter. Putting a bigger inverter on, 250 Watts, just makes it worse as it will take 25 Watts. It is a situation where playing safe, bigger inverter, drains the supply more with no return.

One other option is power from the car and leave the car idling. I have connectors for this and can run the scope from the boot power connector. Also means you have the car close, the inside is warm and somewhere to sit. Equally I have a car kettle for making coffee etc. The problem here is if you let the car stop then the power glitch will be a problem, also the cost of fuel for running the car for a number of hours.

I have also thought of a small home built battery supply (Gel battery) in the boot that can be kept charged from the car - like a leisure battery - that I simply take out when needed for the scopes etc. The advantage here is that normal use of the car would maintain the charge and it is always in the car available. Probably would need a small charging circuit added to the car as in camper vans etc.

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James

James

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Something to consider - a 7AH battery really shouldn't be drained down to near empty as the longevity of the battery (i.e. the number of recharges/general lifespan of the battery) will be considerably shortened. If you're going to have 9-12 hour long sessions you need to go out there with at least double the actual power requirement. If you have access to mains then that's probably good - batteries tend to perform less well in the cold and I know it can get pretty cold in Norway. I'd be very careful using a car - you don't want to risk not being able to start it again in the cold :)

With my kit I have a couple of the smaller batteries for smaller items - my three Astrozap tapes run nicely off a small battery as the power drain is actually quite small but my inverter that runs my camera's/hub and keeps my laptop going is on a big 110AH marine battery. After a long session (8 hours) even that takes quite a big hit. If I'm at a star party and expecting to go all night then I'll take a third battery along (another 86AH marine battery) and split all the items that need power between those three batteries. That way none of the batteries gets drained more than say 30-40%. Incidentally all of my batteries are now approaching seven years old - only one is showing signs of age and my original 17AH Powertank is still going strong. Obsessively not draining it too far and charging it up immediately after use helps!

Kens (Merlin66) suggestion of the gel packs is a good one - treat them nicely and they'll last a long time, they're better than your average lead-acid battery.

*Edit - I forgot to mention, Ken made an important point - invest in a decent charger too!!

James

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brantuk

brantuk

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"Obsessively not draining it too far and charging it up immediately after use helps!"

Imho - this is the big one that makes then last for years. After a typical 3-4hr session at the dark site, mine go straight on charge for at least 8-12hrs. Plus I give 'em a full charge every 3mths if not used due to weather. :)

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Alveprinsen

Alveprinsen

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Thanks to everyone for allot of useful and insightful feedback...

I have been looking into these gel-batteries, and some of the heavier led-based car-batteries... Perhaps a 30ah or 65ah battery would solve my problem. All my other equipment: NEQ6 Pro and dual Astrozap heater strips can run off 19Ah and 17Ah batteries for a long long time without depleting. 19Ah for the mount alone, and another 19 or 17 ah for the heater strips alone should allow for about 9 hours...

It is the laptop that drains the most, combined with the Nikon DSLR which is running off the same power source.

HOWEVER... looking at different battery options the thought suddenly struck me... Why not a use a generator running on petrol?

17-078_l.jpg

With one of these babies, I could run all my equipment for virtually the entire night... The energy consumption of the gear isn't really that much, and a generator like the one in the picture wouldn't have to operate at more than... 15 - 20% capacity?

The one in the picture will run for 4,5 hours at 75% capacity load... If I ran it at like 20%, it should be good for at least 9 hours, or perhaps even more... Unless it runs less efficiently that low, thus requiring more fuel...

Any thoughts?

Sincerely, Alveprinsen.

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Alveprinsen

Alveprinsen

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To put things into perspective I can power my AstroTrac for 10 hours with a set of rechargeable AA batteries...

Funny you should mention that... I have actually been considering getting one of those. Only thing keeping me back is the fact that they... well... they cost money. :(

I have considered getting an astro-track and a fast F1.8 lens, to use when I am traveling. A wide-field F1.8 lens, as well as a 55mm, and 300mm will give me some options without having to log around 40kg of equipment. :)

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Alveprinsen

Alveprinsen

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To stay on topic though... I think I am gonna go with the generator. After talking with an electrical engineer friend of mine, he tells me he would be surprised if that generator did not operate at least 10 consecutive hours with my current setup power consumption. And the freezing temperatures during winter here in Norway will not affect it in any way, other than the slight chance it might be a bit difficult to get it started... And let me stress the "slight" in the sentence "slight chance" here... Batteries lose Amps in the cold, the generator does not.

My only worry now is the generator stopping in the middle of the night for some reason...

Does anyone here use a generator to power their stuff? Or batteries only?

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themaninthesuitcase

themaninthesuitcase

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Make sure you get a decent generator with a decent inverter. I have a cheap little one I got for emergencies, hen I fired it up for the 1st time to let it bed in I plugged in a mains work light to add a load.  The light was very variable and I didn't trust it for anything of value.  It's never been started again since!

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Alveprinsen

Alveprinsen

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Make sure you get a decent generator with a decent inverter. I have a cheap little one I got for emergencies, hen I fired it up for the 1st time to let it bed in I plugged in a mains work light to add a load.  The light was very variable and I didn't trust it for anything of value.  It's never been started again since!

The generator above is a 313£. I dont know if that is considered cheap or not in the generator-world, but we'll see. It is designed so that it can be used with fine elextronics, such as TV etc... I doubt there will be "flickering lights" as you say. :) but thanks for the heads up... you never know... Perhaps its turns out disasterous....

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Pig

Pig

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I have a 34ah power pack made by Ring.

It has a USB port, 2 x 12v sockets, an inverter and a light ( it also will jump start the car)

It runs my scope and dew heater with ease, I have never used it for more than eight hours in one session.

The scopes GoTo is always accurate thus I know the power is ok (when power is low accuracy suffers).

I always recharge after each session and store it in a cool environment

I have now owned it 12 months with no issues, Cost £70

I also use mains power when I can be bothered to get the extension lead out, I have noticed no difference in performance betwixt the two ( apart from having another lead to trip over)

The only down side with the powerpack is the weight, they are heavy things :grin:

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Gtech

Gtech

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Here's my new home grown offering...

abat.jpg

Built around the Tracer 24ah LiFePo battery.

It powers:

7 port USB hub - Lodestar, dSLR, GPS dongle, Temperhum etc

2 dew heaters - Scope and Finder with variable output

3 x 12v outputs for NEQ6, Canon dSLR plus a spare

It manages ~9 hours between charges.

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Alveprinsen

Alveprinsen

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Here's my new home grown offering...

Built around the Tracer 24ah LiFePo battery.

It powers:

7 port USB hub - Lodestar, dSLR, GPS dongle, Temperhum etc

2 dew heaters - Scope and Finder with variable output

3 x 12v outputs for NEQ6, Canon dSLR plus a spare

It manages ~9 hours between charges.

Sir, that is a piece of ART! :D

EDIT: Oh, I hope it beeps, like those bombs in old James Bond movies... Beep beep, and blinking lights! :D

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Dude_with_the_tube

Dude_with_the_tube

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the reason why his batteries drain so quick is because he is using inverter what puts out 220v from 12v battery.By doing so none of batteries will last longer as 4 max 5 hrs.You will need over 100ah battery to last you a night! as you pointed out yourself,if you still want that 220v for your laptop and your DSRL then the only option is power generator (petrol or diesel) when you are out somewhere remote or get extension lead from your mains out to your set up.  My laptop battery lasts over 7 hrs on its own so i only use 12v provided for my other equipment.if you could run everything off 12V wihtout using the inverter,you will be fine and the batteries will last a lot longer.

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Bluetac

Bluetac

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Is there a reason why you dont just get a spare laptop battery, alternatively you can get a 12 cell battery for the laptop so the inverter would not  drain as much as it currently does as it will only need to power the dslr?

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moffer

moffer

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I've got a Halfords Powerpack 200 fitted with 20ah battery, originally bought for moth trapping out in the sticks. Much appreciated if someone can tell me if it will be ok to run my Acer Aspire One notebook for a couple of hours, plus the occasional short blast of a hairdrier (cool setting) for eyepieces etc on a dewy night. 

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moffer

moffer

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Can't avoid the using the inverter.  Was hoping I'd get more than 2 hrs usage from the powerpack. The Acer's battery will last another 2 hrs, so only 4 hrs max and that's pushing it a bit by the seem. That'll do at my local darkish site but won't be enough for when I venture afar to a really dark site, which I'll be doing for the first time soon - hopefully anyway.  So I'll do as you suggest and buy a spare battery.  :smiley: 

Many thanks Dude

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