Quark Portable Power Supply Suggestions

[paulastro]

A friend of mine asked me for suggestions for power supplies for the Quark.  I sent him an email, most of which is reproduced below.  I hope it may be useful for folks about to receive their Quark in the next batch!   I know when I started with mine I fretted about a suitable power supply and appreciate the help others gave me to alleviate my concerns.

 

 

 

 

I have bought three power packs, here are the links to them.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J4IDVZK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BQ5KHJW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/15000mAh-Portable-External-Camcorder-adapters-Black/dp/B00H8L2MIW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1404719687&sr=8-4&keywords=anker+astro+pro2

The first on is identical to the DayStar marketed version, and here is the link to it so you can see for yourself.  Notice the price difference!!

http://www.365astronomy.com/daystar-quark-5v-30ah-power-pack-with-solar-panel-p-4050.html   

It is only solar powered so you cannot plug it into the mains to give it a boost.  When I’m not using mine, I leave it on the lounge window sill to carry on charging.  Mine has worked fine with no problem and should easily work all day – and as long as it was facing the Sun while you were using it, it would probably work the next day too!  I tend now to use it as a back up in case I’m out somewhere and the other one I’m using fails.

The second one is the E4 Astro and is the one I have used most of the time.  It was a recommendation from Rupert at Astrograph.  It is far more solidly built and can be charged via the mains with the USB Micro USB supplied – you will probably have a mains plug with USB facility to use for this person that you use with a phone.  It would last for several session depending how you use it, and the charge remaining is indicated by the 4 blue diodes.  It works very well.

The third one is one that was suggested to me by a fellow SGL person, it’s built very solidly from metal (the others are plastic) and gives the remaining charge as a percentage.  It comes with its own mains plug and charger.  Like the others, it also works very well.

I bought all the chargers before I had the Quark to cover all bases.  If I was starting from scratch, I’d probably buy the E4 astro OR the third one and have the solar powered one as a back up.

The second and third ones come with a bag with a draw cord so you can put the power supply inside and hang it from your mount or tripod.  In fact I use a digital camera case I have for this purpose, mainly because the strap seems a lot more robust than the draw cords on the two supplied.

You probably have one around of some kind, but I suggest you buy a couple of good leads (one as a spare) for connecting to the Quark.  Also, the ones supplied with the battery packs are a little on the short side.  I bought a pack of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00C28L6EW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Joseki]

Hi, that's definitely worth knowing for people with Quarks.  I got one of the cheap ones that Daystar are marking up and selling (possibly making more profit on that than the Quark).  One slight correction though, those units can be charged using a mains adapter - there are 2 USB output ports and one smaller input port that you can use a phone charger to charge the unit through. 

However I think you're right in suggesting people get a better one.  It does the job okay but I came across a YouTube video (I don't have the link right now) where the guy took one of these apart and showed that they don't have anywhere near the capacity they claim to have (or at least his one didn't) and that the solar charger, whilst a nice gimmick was a bit useless and that the cost of lighting the leds whilst charging could often offset the charge from the panel - and run the battery down. 

[paulastro]

Oops, apologies.  I should have put 'portable' power supply in the title.  Of course, the Quark comes with a mains supply.

[paulastro]

John, thanks for pointing out that the solar powered one can be charged via the mains.  I didn't realise.  I'm not the most techie person out there 

[Joseki]

btw here's the YouTube link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDTTz_ftj3E