Lightweight battery for the field imager.

[Solo05]

Fed up with lugging that huge car jump start battery around to run you mount and dew heaters while imaging at a dark site.  I know I was until Melsky from our group showed me his latest acquisition from FLO.

Enter the Tracer 12v 22Ah 1.25 Kg Lithium polymer battery.  So light you can mount it on your belt if wanted.

These are not cheap but they are amazing.  I have had 2 x 5 hour sessions, running both the HEQ5 Pro and a couple of dew heaters, and the LED indicators on top still show 3/4 full.  Now admittedly I am not swinging from object to object all night but rather find a target and track it for a few hours while taking subs.  I am sure a sky surfer would still get a nights worth of slewing around the sky on just the one charge.  

There are smaller Ah models available but my thoughts were get the biggest battery I could so it won't run out.  

The blurb also says they are zero self discharge when stored for a long period so you won't be caught with a flat battery just before you rush out to a dark site.

The output is a single cigar female connector into which I plug a 3 way cigar output.  Charging is via mains charger and/or DC vehicle charger. 

OH and no, I have nothing to do with FLO apart from buying this item from them.

[stevepeverall]

Thanks Solo. That looks like the next thing on my wish list.

[Davey-T]

I recently purchased the 40 Ah Tracer battery and shoehorned it into my Maplin power pack instead of the original 17 Ah LA battery, gone from running three hours max with dew heaters, mount etc to test run of eight hours with hardly any effect on battery,and recharged in 15 mins.  Weighs no more than before and can carry it easily in one hand.

Dave

[nightfisher]

I bought a sealed battery from my local car breakers for £15, 26 amp and it packs a punch, its all i use

[Solo05]

I bought a sealed battery from my local car breakers for £15, 26 amp and it packs a punch, its all i use

Lovely but I bet you can't put in a coat pocket and carry it 300 mts to a field site without a hernia.  

[Daniel-K]

that looks sweet! i may have to get one of these bad boys!

[Lonestar70]

Hi Solo,

Enter the Tracer 12v 22Ah 1.25 Kg Lithium polymer battery.  So light you can mount it on your belt if wanted.

These are not cheap but they are amazing.  I have had 2 x 5 hour sessions, running both the HEQ5 Pro and a couple of dew heaters, and the LED indicators on top still show 3/4 full.

Interesting... do you know what current you are actually drawing from this battery? 2 x 5hr sessions suggest a very small load.

I suspect that anyone using 2 or more dew heaters and running other items, such as usb hubs and laptops, taking a total of say 4 amps would be hard put to get more than 3 hrs use from the 22Ah battery before it droped to the 11v minimum voltage required for the mount.

The Data sheet for the 2548 shows a discharge time @4.1 amps giving only 170-180 minutes.

I agree it is lightweight, but capacity wise a good leisure battery will better this by a large margin and be a lot cheaper.

It is, however, a much better solution than the normal powertanks.

Best regards.

Sandy.

[Solo05]

Hi Solo,

Interesting... do you know what current you are actually drawing from this battery? 2 x 5hr sessions suggest a very small load.

I suspect that anyone using 2 or more dew heaters and running other items, such as usb hubs and laptops, taking a total of say 4 amps would be hard put to get more than 3 hrs use from the 22Ah battery before it droped to the 11v minimum voltage required for the mount.

The Data sheet for the 2548 shows a discharge time @4.1 amps giving only 170-180 minutes.

I agree it is lightweight, but capacity wise a good leisure battery will better this by a large margin and be a lot cheaper.

It is, however, a much better solution than the normal powertanks.

Best regards.

Sandy.

Hi Sandy

I can only report what experience I have had with actually using the thing.  I had 2 small 4" dew heaters (set at 50%) and an HEQ5 running off it for 2 sessions of about 5 hours each.

Once star alignment is done I usually only then guide on a couple of targets so usage from the mount is minimal I will grant you.

The netbook runs the guide QHY5 camera and this runs on its' own battery for around 5 hours so this is the limit of one nights imaging.  The 2 DSLRs run on their own batteries as well.

My main point was how light this thing is compared the the normal heavy and cumbersome powertank/car battery arrangement which for an evening of imaging in the field is a lot nicer prospect.

Best regards

Steve 

[Gtech]

I use the Tracer 24ah LifePo version and run NEQ6, 7 port hub, 2 dew heaters, Canon dSLR and Lodestar. I get around 10hours real usage. Voltage drop seems neglible on lithium compared to lead acid battteries.

[Lonestar70]

 Solo05

Posted Today, 05:40 PM

Hi Sandy

I can only report what experience I have had with actually using the thing.  I had 2 small 4" dew heaters (set at 50%) and an HEQ5 running off it for 2 sessions of about 5 hours each.

Once star alignment is done I usually only then guide on a couple of targets so usage from the mount is minimal I will grant you.

The netbook runs the guide QHY5 camera and this runs on its' own battery for around 5 hours so this is the limit of one nights imaging.  The 2 DSLRs run on their own batteries as well.

My main point was how light this thing is compared the the normal heavy and cumbersome powertank/car battery arrangement which for an evening of imaging in the field is a lot nicer prospect.

Best regards

Steve 

Hi Steve, and thanks... I did not doubt your claim, rather I was curious as to the actual current being drawn.

I would think your draw was no more than 1.5 amps so that would make sense.

Also, don't forget that the reported 3/4 charge left relates to the 8v cut-off voltage... the more important discharge voltage point would be the 11v minimum for the mount...

It would be interesting to see how it stood up under a more severe load and how long it would be before the mount started to play up with low voltage warnings.

Interesting subject and batteries are improving at a fast pace nowadays.

Best regards.

Sandy.

[melsky]

I can second how good this battery is, I can run my IEQ45 with 3 dew heaters on my twin rig plus guider with no problem. I bought mine 6 months ago when FLO had an introductory offer on and I’m just about to charge it for the third time and that’s just letting it run down to the last green led, I do miss having to remember to top up a power tank before an Imaging session

Mel

[Davey-T]

As previously mentioned I fitted a 40AH  version into my Maplin power tank and ran it with mount dew heaters etc for eight hours with no measurable effect on the battery, I have now left it running ( without scope ) 24 hours and the battery recharges in

a matter of minutes with the supplied 10amp charger. As Mel says I might miss travelling to a dark sight then have the power pack die after twp hours.

Dave