Powering an EQ5

[Moonshane]

Hi all

Don't worry, I have not succumbed to the dark side! Scott has kindly agreed to loan me his EQ5 with a view to me buying it if it's man enough for my 120ED for visual / sketching solar system objects.

I think (hope) it will be up to the task and as I want to have the option of battery power when convenient or not at home, I wonder if anyone can please confirm if one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterproof-DC-to-DC-buck-Converter-12V-to-3-3-3-3-7-5-6-9V-Power-Module-Supply-/301952827799?var=&hash=item464dca8197:m:mYCzvufJ1v9Akgw9_Ogm9bw (the 12v-6v version in my case as this is the voltage needed for the mount) would be all I'd need for converting the 12v from my 12v 7ah rechargeable battery? I am not too fussed about overly long tracking periods (I'd be happy with 10-15 minutes between adjustments) so I doubt the small potential difference in voltage above/below 6v if there is one will affect my usage.

Cheers all

Shane

 

 

 

[Alien 13]

That should be fine if you are using the simple 6V RA motor just make sure the voltage doesn't exceed 6V as the circuitry has no protection, you can even power these mounts off a 5V mobile/tablet battery bank if you want to keep the weight down, I got an 11 AH one for £6 from a local discount store.

Alan 

[spaceboy]

Just to give you food for thought. I use one of these adapted (cut off the cigar plug and fitted gator clips) for use from a leisure battery http://www.wilko.com/car-accessories/ring-multi-socket-with-usb-12v-rms7/invt/0285890 and supply power to my mount via a switched adapter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12v-24v-REGULATED-DC-DC-ADAPTER-1500mA-cig-cigar-1-5v-3v-4-5v-6v-7-5v-9v-12v-/231176243448?hash=item35d32d88f8:g:TrAAAMXQ1d1TG1Z8

[Moonshane]

cheers guys

I like the idea of the phone charging bank. small and neat. I expect I'd need a usb - jack lead too. My current mains adapter seems to work fine enough. other than a little backlash the mount is really excellent - just tested on the sun and fine with the 120ED. It is the one with simple 6v motors. Perhaps an inline 1a fuse might be a good idea? Anyone know what the mount draws in terms of amps per hour?

[Alien 13]

The current drawn on the EQ3-2 with the same motor is 290mA tracking and 390mA when slewing x8 so it might be a little more on the EQ5.

I used a power bank with a old USB lead and cut off one end and soldered on a suitable plug, the reason I was sure that 5.1V was ok is because the standard battery case holds 4 D cells and this would only be 4.8V if using rechargeables.

Alan

P.S. I think the plug is a 2.1 x 5.5mm

[Moonshane]

Very valuable info. Thanks Alan

I think I will turn my transformer down to 5v just in case.

 

[DHEB]

20 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

The current drawn on the EQ3-2 with the same motor is 290mA tracking and 390mA when slewing x8 so it might be a little more on the EQ5.

 

The maximum current drawn by an EQ5 is 0.9 A when slewing in both directions, while the normal drive is about 0.28 A. I have measured this by doing some experiments. The results are posted here:

Battery consumption by EQ5 equatorial mount with dual axis motors: results of a simple experiment

Hope this is useful to you.

Cheers

[Alien 13]

5 minutes ago, Cinco Sauces said:

The maximum current drawn by an EQ5 is 0.9 A when slewing in both directions, while the normal drive is about 0.28 A. I have measured this by doing some experiments. The results are posted here:

Battery consumption by EQ5 equatorial mount with dual axis motors: results of a simple experiment

Hope this is useful to you.

Cheers

I think that compares well with my measurements on a single axis motor, I did  find the lack of such info from skywatcher a bit annoying.

Alan

[Moonshane]

Very cool! Thank you

[DHEB]

Just now, Alien 13 said:

I think that compares well with my measurements on a single axis motor, I did  find the lack of such info from skywatcher a bit annoying.

Good! I also found it annoying that the info wasn't available from the manufacturer. It was also impossible to find in the internet. That prompted me to make my own measurements, I hope now that these could be useful to someone else. Cheers

 

[Alien 13]

I found exactly the same issue with power consumption of a Canon camera and had to measure it (740 mA for the 650D).

Alan

[DHEB]

28 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

I found exactly the same issue with power consumption of a Canon camera and had to measure it (740 mA for the 650D).

Yes, a common problem. I believe manuals are expensive things to do well, with technical manuals possibly beyond the cost-benefit threshold of many companies. Just guessing.

[wookie1965]

I bought this when I got my EQ5  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-DC-5A-CCTV-Cameras-POWER-PSU-ADAPTER-2-1mm-4-WAY-SPLITTER-UK-3pin-Power-Cord-/400569415133?hash=item5d43cc35dd:g:JHwAAOSw4HVWDFcL

[Moonshane]

Cheers matey. I need 5-6v rather than 12v.  I have a mains transformer which works fine but in the end I have ordered one of the reducers linked to above as I want to run off batteries. For a fiver it's worth a punt.

[Moonshane]

Looks like it was worth a punt. I ordered the 12v-5v unit and wired it up to my 12v 7ah battery today with a 1a in line fuse. Could not really test as such as cloudy all day but seems fine.

I used 2.1mm male and female connectors so I can still use the battery for the fans on my does when needed.

I put the battery in a small picnic cool bag hung on the spreader plate to avoid wires on the floor. Pretty neat really.