Working smarter, not harder

[Jim78154]

 

I finally had to admit it. I am getting too old for some of this stuff. Which stuff is that you ask? Well, let’s see. We can start with carrying a 25 pound car battery over uneven ground for several hundred yards. Besides, that old battery that has served me so well for so long is getting a bit “long in the tooth” as well. It will no longer hold a charge quite as long as I would like it to. What to do, what to do? The years may have weakened me some, but they have also made me wiser. Divide et impera! Yes, that’s the answer. Once again ancient history and modern technology have combined to come to my rescue. A few minutes browsing the internet brought me to what I was looking for. It, or rather they, are a pair of small batteries used to power children’s riding toys.  In the case of my particular choice, they are 12 Volt, 12 Amp hour, rechargeable, sealed, lead acid batteries. They weigh in at a tolerable 10 pounds per piece and are surprisingly affordable at just under $22.00 U.S. each, delivered. Yes there are two of them, but I have a much better chance of making that several hundred yard trek without a heart attack by making two trips with 10 pound loads than I do struggling through once with a 25 pound load. The batteries when wired in parallel will provide 24 Amp hours of 12 volt power, enough for a good four to five hours of observing using my 5” achromatic with digital setting circles and R.A. and Dec. motors. No, they are not GOTO and I will only use them for tracking and short target transitions. For long swings I can just unlock the clutches and push the OTA around. The brains of this operation, my tablet already has a battery, so no worries there. I have ordered the batteries, and am drawing up plans to house them in a PVC container with proper power distribution, wiring, fusing, etc., much of it reused from my present set up. I’ll try to post some photos when I get it all together.

[Droogie 2001]

Sounds intriguing will be intrested to hear how you get on.

The Tracer Lithium batteries are appealing but they are not cheap as the 12v 22Ah clocks in at £199 which is about $290!

The reason I want a high Amp battery is so I can run a CCD in the field.
 

[Jim78154]

I suppose then that it is a matter of finding the largest capacity battery that one can safely carry and buying enough of them to reach the Amp-hour capacity that is needed. Sealed, lead acid batteries are available in A.H. ratings from a scant few to 100's of A.H's. If you have the physique of Hercules, then no worries, but if not, then you will be making more trips back and forth to the trunk, excuse me......boot of the car. It is either that or adopt a teenage son with an extra large shirt size and extra small hat size.