How do you power your mount?

[johngwheeler]

Hi,

I'm buying my first powered mount (Celestron AVX) and need to understand my options for providing electrical power. The mount doesn't seem to include any kind of power supply.

The shop I'm buying from suggests a Celestron Charging Pack for AU$299, which sounds a bit expensive.

I already have a charger for 12V car / motorbike batteries, so I'm wondering whether there is some kind of rig using a car battery that would work on the mount? I imagine the power supply needs to be very "clean" and regulated to work with a mount.

For home use, what do people use to convert 240V AC to 12V? Are the physical power connectors used on EQ mount standard?

Any advice?

Thanks,

John

[goose35]

Some use a leisure battery as used in camping and boats, there are a few "power tank" threads on here, which is what i intend to make in time.

I'm sure somone will point you to one of those threads.

Right now though as im stargazing at home i use a mains multivolt transformer set at 12volts and run off a camping power supply off the mains

[ronin]

At home I run an extension lead and a variable DC converter - scopes are 9v and 12v

Away then I use a small Tracer pack, it outputs 12v and I have a 12v/9v switchable option on a lead for that, useful as I can charge in/from a car so easy to drive and top it up en route.

Will be getting a simple Li battery pack: Li-ion

To try out as they may be physically smaller and attach to the mounts easier.

Also means 2 batteries in case or when one runs out.

[Saganite]

I simply use a 75AH leisure battery hooked up to a trickle charger when not in use ,to power my EQ6.Works all night without a problem.

[The BFJ]

I have to go out a fair way from home to get decent dark-ish skies so I bit the bullet and bought a Sky Watcher power tank. It might not have been the cheapest way of doing things but it does exactly what I need it to do with minimum hassle.

[A40farinagolf]

Might sound like a daft question but what is a leisure battery? and how do they differ from a 12V car battery?

Thanks in advance.

[Cornelius Varley]

Leisure batteries or deep cycle batteries are normally found in caravans, boats, mobility scooters etc. They are designed for long periods of discharge and are more suited to our own needs than lead/acid car batteries or jump start batteries which are used for short, high amp discharge purposes.

[sparticles]

i made a battery box from a few pieces of plywood and a nissan micra battery..dropped the voltage to 6v through a dc to dc regulator.. powers my eq5 for a full session..

if you look on  the reuk website it will give you a few ideas..

good luck

[johngwheeler]

OK - I have a trickle charger that (C-Tek), and can buy a deep-cycle car / boat battery.

But presumably I need at least a cable with the correct power terminator for the mount. Are the connectors and cables standard?

Can you just connect the 12V battery directly without any further power treatment (regulator etc.)?

The mount will be a Celestron AVX.

[Tony H]

Ok I'm very new to the forum and astronomy.  Whatr I can tell you is that connectors and cables are NOT standard.  Assuming you have a coonector that "fits" the power socket for your mount, please ensure that you have the correct polarity set.  Most are tip or centre positive.  CHECK!  Get it wrong and you risk frying your electronics.  You should use a decent multimeter to check the output of any power supply you intend to use. I've seen one or several m,arked as 12v dc that push out up to 19v dc.  Assuming you have matched the voltage, the nest thing tio think about is output amperage.

A 12v dc out put of 100ma will not do for a mount reuiring 12v dc at 1.5 amps.

Generally, if you closely match the output voltage to the mount's required voltage and then ensure that your power supply outputs at least as many amps as required by the mount then you are safe.

A general rule of thumb is that a device using dc power will only draw as much amps as it needs so if your supply is over that then you are safe. Too little amps for your supply to mount requirement can, and often does, mean that your power supply will run hot at best or fail or maybe even ignite. Be SAFE.  If in doubt check.

[skysculptor]

With a turbo charged v8 motor with a 12 volt output! Bit noisy but boy it slews fast! But seriously little mounts that take 5 v to power like my star adventurer work great from 5volt mobile phone chargers!