How to power my mount

[hobbiesaregood]

My Meade LXD75 came with a battery pack which will cost a fortune to run.

I've been reading about the use of Jump starters  or  Li-ion power packs.

What do I need to buy to  connect them to the mount?  I just don't see anything recent and anything I've seen at this stage has dead links.

Thanks

[Ivor52]

Do you have Halfords in Ireland? If so, get a "Phaze 4 in 1"  jumpstarter. They are £39 at the moment.....17Ah, with 2 cigarette lighter outputs and a USB and an LED torch (just cover it with red film or theatre gel.

 

I use one on my AVX....runs forever (well almost)

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/jump-leads/phaze-4-in-1-jump-starter

Or maybe they'll ship....????

 

Ivor

[Cornelius Varley]

You will also need a suitable power lead it you don't have one. http://www.astronomiser.co.uk/pwrhbx.htm#mpwr

[hobbiesaregood]

Thanks guys. Have a phaze ordered from Halfords. ( we have most of the English chain stores here)

 

Which power lead do I need to order ? 

[Cornelius Varley]

Meade use a 2.5mm diameter centre pin (check the user manual).  The Halfords jump start battery will have a suitable cigar lighter type socket so get the cigar lighter type.

[hobbiesaregood]

thanks for your help. I picked up the Phaze power pack today and ordered a power cable from  astronomiser.  

 

[2STAR]

On 24 January 2016 at 13:05, hobbiesaregood said:

Thanks guys. Have a phaze ordered from Halfords. ( we have most of the English chain stores here)

 

Which power lead do I need to order ? 

I use the halfords 4in1 also, 17ah comes with cigar plug included that will fit the battery and the other end will fit your mount no problem, 

[popeye85]

I just use my car!!  since I need to give to get to my preferred observing spot so I just got a lead and stuck one end in the 12V cigarette lighter of the car and the other in the mount and away I went!

[cjdawson]

19 hours ago, popeye85 said:

I just use my car!!  since I need to give to get to my preferred observing spot so I just got a lead and stuck one end in the 12V cigarette lighter of the car and the other in the mount and away I went!

And one of these days, you'll have a wonderful observing session, pack up.  get in the car and turn the key and.... nothing.     It's best to run from different power supply from your car.

[popeye85]

8 hours ago, cjdawson said:

And one of these days, you'll have a wonderful observing session, pack up.  get in the car and turn the key and.... nothing.     It's best to run from different power supply from your car.

never had a problem yet. It can easily go for a couple hours as long as I don't slew it around to much and if it looks like I'm drawing to much or going to be longer than I anticipated observing then I do the simple task of starting up to recharge the battery. simples.

[Staffs Oatcake]

On 24 January 2016 at 11:59, Ivor52 said:

Do you have Halfords in Ireland? If so, get a "Phaze 4 in 1"  jumpstarter. They are £39 at the moment.....17Ah, with 2 cigarette lighter outputs and a USB and an LED torch (just cover it with red film or theatre gel.

 

I use one on my AVX....runs forever (well almost)

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/jump-leads/phaze-4-in-1-jump-starter

Or maybe they'll ship....????

 

Ivor

This us what I bought as my power source.  Can't fault it.  

[metalman]

My thoughts...

The problem I have found with jumpstarters (I had the 17Ah SW one) is that you need to be really careful with the recharging. The charging lights on mine were very confusing leading to undercharging and too much discharge. This shortened its life and eventually made me switch to a 100Ah leisure battery with a dedicated smart charger.

This is proving to last much longer and was actually cheaper than the price I paid for the jump starter.

If I was starting out again, I would go the leisure battery route...although I admit I do not travel far to observe (just to the back yard, where I have the battery in a wooden storage box)...as they weigh a ton